History Main / FlatEarthAtheist

* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has the NPC Fall-From-Grace who, in a world brimming with gods and monsters and other such things, is agnostic. She's the party cleric. She's also a chaste succubus and proprietress of a brothel that doesn't involve sex. ''Planescape'', as mentioned above, is a ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve setting, where belief shapes reality (and clerical magic is just one form of reality-shaping). Grace draws her power from the Sensate Philosophy.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', Ocelot loudly decries the existence of the supernatural, [[ArbitrarySkepticism despite the fact]] that he used to work with an AxCrazy floating psychic, a shaman with flying tattoos, an arguable vampire who could pin people to their shadows, a ridiculously old man who only comes to life in battle and can communicate with forest spirits, a man who could shoot bees, and a ghost; once manipulated an elaborate chain of events involving two (arguably [[JekyllAndHyde three]]) non-floating psychics; and is ''routinely being possessed by a ghost living in [[EvilHand Ocelot's transplanted arm]]''. However, this line was added by the translator; in the original Japanese, he only says that technology can replicate the supernatural. See also DoingInTheWizard and VoodooShark for more discussion of the possessed arm and the vampire, among other things.
** Solid Snake denounces the supernatural in numerous occasions, doubting and mocking Mantis's extremely potent psychic powers (as well as Alice Hazel's in ''VideoGame/MetalGearAcid'') and refusing to accept Fortune could really be a witch. He's proven wrong about the latter and admits it, but in ''4'' belligerently tells Otacon that Vamp's powers can't be real. On the other side, he's reasonably respectful of Vulcan Raven and his magic, [[GayBravado if not of Raven himself]].
* There happens to be an antitheist in ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite''. None of the godly power you throw at him can persuade him. But that's all right, tossing him about is quite amusing. What's rather interesting is that he was a significant source of belief anyway, if used properly; while he claimed not to believe in you, you could pick him up anywhere he was -- even if he was outside of your control, which is something you can't do for anything else in the game, except for your creature. He also extended a small radius of influence around him, so in effect, he ''was'' a believer, he just didn't like you.
* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008'' featured a protagonist who didn't believe in either of the two gods, despite all the demons he fights and ''seeing one of said gods try to escape from his prison''. When you see inky blackness spilling into the sky and corrupting the planet, and then deny that your antagonist is real, you're just being thickheaded.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', Gnome characters were initially limited to classes that practice mundane martial arts (warriors and rogues) or arcane magic (magi and warlocks). The reason? They are a race of primarily atheists who can't play any class that requires faith in a higher power, such as the Light or nature spirits. Despite living with and fighting alongside priests, paladins, druids, and the like. Even after the introduction of gnome priests, WordOfGod clarified that they were just doctors and medics who believe that the healing powers of the Holy Light are just another science they can use to their advantage.
** Which they aren't entirely wrong about. Besides which, this is frankly a healthier attitude towards the Light than some of the other races have. Worshipping the Light doesn't do anything directly: actually using the Light only requires being willing to sacrifice for one's cause. That cause can be anything, from the social or political to the personal. Belief in a higher power of some kind or worship of anything in particular. Though higher powers definitely DO exist in the setting (but seeing as they tend to be {{Jerkass}}es as often as not, worshipping them is not always the best idea).
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'': Gannayev from ''Mask of the Betrayer'' adamantly refuses to believe that gods exist and has been known to get into massive bitchfights with the priests of Kelemvor over it (one of which you get to jump into. We suggest you don't try to prove Gann wrong, if you value your [[LevelUpAtIntimacy5 relationship-related stat boosts]]). He persists in this delusion even after he meets not one but ''two'' gods in person (or switches to [[NayTheist Nay-Theism]], he doesn't clarify which). The only thing he doesn't believe in is the wall of the faithless, which, considering the horror it represents, is fairly logical when supposedly good gods are involved in its preservation. It's obvious well before the assault on Kelemvor's domain that he thinks the gods are hypocritical assholes.

** Mulder qualifies on notable occasions. [[ArbitrarySkepticism He is more than happy to believe in Yetis, Psychics, Vampires, and Little Green Men, but any hint of God in the equation and he suddenly becomes more skeptical than Scully at her most ardent]]. Which makes quite a bit of sense if you consider that he does not need an omnipotent god to explain anything strange until such a being is necessarily part of the occurrence. Scully herself, a Catholic, reverses roles with him on any occasion when the phenomena is religious (nearly always Christian) in nature, immediately shedding any skepticism. It gets very bad in the eleventh season when Scully denies ghosts and the Devil exist-both were shown to be quite real in earlier seasons.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', after Eddy is cursed by a phone and suffers one misfortune after another, [[TheSmartGuy Double D]] stubbornly insists that it's all a coincidence despite statistically impossible things happening to Eddy such as having a tree topple on top of him, getting crushed by a sandbox falling from the sky, getting trampled by wild hippos (in the middle of the United States), getting struck by lightning, and having a house fall on him all in the span of about 30 seconds.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', Squidward says he doesn't believe in ghosts (or more specifically the Flying Dutchman), which is odd considering the Flying Dutchman appeared to the entire town in the HalloweenEpisode and Squidward was zapped over and over and tortured by the Flying Dutchman in another episode.

* In ''Anime/GhostSweeperMikami'', the protagonist is called in to help with a possessed patient of a Western-trained doctor. The doctor claims he cannot determine a cause of sickness, which is incredulous taking into account the levitation, horror face, and swirling ghost energy around the victim. Doc responds by rolling around on the floor loudly denying the existence of the supernatural in a "La la la I can't hear you" fashion. He gets better by the end after encountering the possessing spirit and personally aiding in the fight with what he learned in medical school... A flying dropkick from his amateur wrestling team days! After acknowledging that the supernatural exists, he vows to prepare for any future occurrences... By training in his wrestling again.

* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', written by [[Creator/BrandonSanderson the same author]] as ''Warbreaker'', Jasnah, and later her uncle Dalinar, are branded as heretics for denying the existence of the Almighty. Dalinar received what amounts to a [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture psychic recorded message]] from the Almighty, part of which states that he is dead. He doesn't denight the Almighty existed is not sure exactly where he lands on if there is or is not a true God, but if the Almighty was killed he was never truely God in the first place.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

* In ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'' Maine ignores everything people say about magic or all evidence that some plants have magic powers because she simply assumes that magic can't possibly exist. It takes her a long time to realize that not only is magic real, but she has a pretty high ability for it herself.

* ''Series/AmericanGods2017'': Laura doesn't give up her atheism even after seeing several gods, insisting they're not really divine but just created by humans (which is [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly sort of the case]]). God singular, meanwhile, is not seen (but multiple forms of Jesus are) and it's him she most insists isn't a real being.

** Dean's an interesting case in that it's not the Angels and God part he struggles with - it's the fact that benevolent powerful, omniscience beings can exist while doing nothing about the suffering and death going on. He accepts them more readily when it becomes apparent that "Angels are dicks with wings" and GodIsFlawed. Dean's worldview hasn't fundamentally changed and in fact, he's actually proven right.

* On ''Series/DoctorWho'', The Doctor often appears to be one of these. Generally it's more a case of NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus. Ghosts? Silly human superstition caused by psychic echoes in the morphic field. And that's even before you get to all the sufficiently advanced aliens (like himself). But occasionally he does run into something he can't explain, as in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield "Battlefield"]] or [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit "The Satan Pit"]], and it generally only takes him a couple weeks to go back to disbelieving.

** Additionally, Mohammed, Buddha, and Joseph Smith also exist and have superpowers in "Super Best Friends". TheyFightCrime Despite this, in "All About Mormons", Stan found the entire story of Joseph Smith and Mormonism impossible to swallow.

*** A large part of the issue is that the Tau are simply unfamiliar with Chaos and Psykers. There are no Tau psykers, and psykers are required for daemons to take physical form. They certainly don't deny the existence of Daemons or the effects of Psykers after they have encountered them, even if they fail to properly understand them. Hence the short story where a Tau army believes they [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu slew]] [[HornyDevils Slaanesh]] -- they had no idea about the existence of Chaos Space Marines or Chaos Gods at the time, so they were unaware that Slaanesh was the name of that band's patron deity as opposed to their commander. It's this ignorance that makes them so dangerous in the eyes of the Imperium; they consider the Tau TooDumbToLive.

* In ''Film/TheCoffinJoeTrilogy'', the title character refuses to believe in God, Satan, and general supernatural activity, despite frequently being a target of ghostly/demoniac apparitions within the trilogy. It's never confirmed if the apparitions are [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane real or a product of his mind]].

Compare with AgentScully; MagicVersusScience; SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic; NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus; and NoSuchThingAsWizardJesus. See also CrossoverCosmology and NegativeContinuity for two possible justifications, along with GodTest, and GrumpyBear. Sometimes one too many strange things happening will lead these characters into GivingUpOnLogic. If the character does believe in certain fantastical aspects of their world but rejects others for no adequate reason, then you are dealing with ArbitrarySkepticism.

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'':
** While not God, in the third game, Edgeworth's disbelief in Spirit Channeling is odd, seeing as how he has sat across from a dead woman (whose murder he prosecuted!) in court.
** Later on, in ''Justice For All'', the Judge expresses disbelief in Spirit Channeling. This is despite Maya's ability to channel dead spirits being a critical point in the trial.

* Subverted in the latest ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsScarletSpider Scarlet Spider]]'' series, starring Ben Reilly. He was resurrected and killed through cloning multiple times, and he remembers every one of those instances. The experience has left him with a rather nihilistic outlook on life, as he ponders how he only ever experienced nothingness beyond death. To his credit, he quickly throws this all aside after he encounters ''the personification of Death, who shows him his own soul''. It's like the writer specifically wanted to show how ridiculous strict atheism is in such a fantastical setting.

* Dr. Aleister Grout, the Malkavian Primogen from ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' firmly believes there's a rational explanation for the fact that he's a vampire and all the obviously supernatural things they can do. It's somewhat implied that this is actually the manifestation of his Malkavian insanity. Also implied to be his insanity is his methods. The good doctor is a clinical case of antisocial personality disorder taken to eleven.

* ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' The salaryman who would become Tanya doesn't believe in "God" even though he witnesses the stopping of time and multiple people (and a pidgeon) talking to him during said timestop. He refuses to believe this being is... well, {{God}}, as he doesn't believe the world could possibly be as screwed up as it is, if an all-powerful, benevolent being actually existed. And since it doesn't identify as the Devil, he therefore decides to refer to it as "Being X". Being X keeps intervening and creating miracles but still Tanya refuses to believe in or pray for it.

* One of the hardest things for newcomers to ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' to [[MindScrew get their heads around]] is that the main character is having a very intense and logical debate denying the existence of a witch that haunts his family's mansion... with the witch in question. And his only tools in this debate? [[PaintingTheMedium The magic text]] [[FaustianRebellion she grants to him]]. (In episode 6, [[spoiler:however, he's part of the pro-witch side, since ''he's the new GM''.]]) This starts making a lot more sense as the story goes on. By the fourth arc, he's not fighting to deny magic in itself but the fact that the murders were committed by that witch. By the fifth, [[spoiler:there's another witch who brings in a piece to do the same thing (in her words, "dispel the Illusion of the witch"), though in a some different and more brutal way]].

* Deishuu Kaiki in ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'' is a very odd example in that he might actually be ''right.'' Throughout the story, monsters, spirits and ghosts plague characters as metaphors for their emotional and psychological issues. They're very much there in that you see them damage things and affect the real world and such. However, Kaiki doesn't believe that any of them exist even as he speaks with them, considering them hallucinations and lies. Normally he'd come off as crazy, but there's actual support for this viewpoint in the story. For example, he sets a magic bee on the main character's little sister that gives her a burning fever, which an expert says is a magic disease that caused a plague long ago. However, Kaiki has actually researched said plague only to find absolutely no evidence of its existence nor the people it supposedly destroyed. The bee? He actually just hypnotized her [[YourMindMakesItReal and gave her a fever like that.]] The bee doesn't actually exist. [[spoiler:The whole worldbuilding in the series is based on the dual nature of the supernatural: it is real, as in it's not just in people's heads, and it is fake, as in it requires people's heads to exist. Oddities find it hard to exist on the South Pole for example. Thus both believing in it and disbelieving in it are completely legitimate viewpoints, and your own interaction with the oddities will be determined by that.]]
* In ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'' Maine ignores everything people say about magic or all evidence that some plants have magic powers because she simply assumes that magic can't possibly exist. It takes her a long time to realize that not only is magic real, but she has a pretty high ability for it herself.
* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'':
** Doma, despite being groomed to be a cult leader since he was born, Doma believes that there is nothing after death, and when one dies, they simply 'return to the ground,' believing religion to be a waste of time. Given he's an immortal, centuries-old demon, this is quite noticeable.
** Not as much as Doma, but Muzan in his tremendous egocentrism has rebuked Kagaya's notion that someday karma will catch up to his evil deeds by gloating about his very long life. He lived for more than a thousand years without ever seeing God or Buddah thus Muzan rationalizes there's either no such thing as divinity or that his actions are actually ''supported by higher powers'', somehow.
* The plot of ''Manga/{{Dandadan}}'' kicks off because Ayase believes in ghosts, Okarun believes in aliens, and neither of them believes the other. Both are real, of course.

* A fairly complex example from ComicBook/StormWatch: the Eidolon was a man who died, and instead of reaching the afterlife, he was trapped in a place between life and death--a living ghost who wished to kill people to show the world God didn't exist and this was the only life we have...ok, but here's the issue: he lived in the shared universe of ''Creator/ImageComics''. Not only is there documented evidence of ''MULTIPLE'' Gods existing in Image--in particular in the Wildstorm universe he originated from but also the other universes in the Image multiverse--but many of the heroes received powers from or have in some way come into physical contact with Gods. This includes the Judaeo-Christian God, who isn't nearly as nice as he is in the Bible but is, without question, an actual life form. Also, as if this weren't enough, he was a member of a team with no less than three other people who were either Gods, related to Gods, or received powers from Gods, including the Goddess of Murder. ''Also'' also, Eidolon existed in a world where the ability to travel between universes, access to the afterlife, and even technological exploration of other dimensions--many of which were also ruled by or inhabited by Gods--was not only commonplace but well known to the public. One of the teams in this world, The Authority, rode around in a spacecraft inside of the '''fucking arteries''' of a being best described as a nicer version of Azathoth! Not just a God, ''the'' God! So, in other words, Eidolon is just some mutant who has immortality of a sort, didn't clinically die after being in some accident or whatever years ago, and interpreted this as a confirmation of atheism--even though he has access to a mountain of ''publicly available'' scientific evidence debunking atheism top to bottom!
* Ted Knight, ComicBook/{{Starman}}, who hung around the [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] for a long time but was still convinced that science explained all of it... somehow. DependingOnTheWriter, it sometimes did ([[{{Technobabble}} for a certain definition of "science", anyhow...]]) And most of the actual "gods" in the setting were actually {{sufficiently advanced alien}}s anyway.

* Doctor Terrance Thirteen, the Ghost Breaker, is Franchise/TheDCU's preeminent example, earnestly believing that aliens (like Franchise/{{Superman}}), magicians (like ComicBook/DoctorFate), and supernatural beings (like ComicBook/TheSpectre) simply don't exist at all. He's treated unilaterally as a joke. Ironically, in his original appearances before continuity held sway (that is, before Franchise/TheDCU was firmly established as a SharedUniverse where nearly all DC properties resided), the ghosts and magicians he went up against always ''were'' fake and his skepticism was presented as a virtuous trait; but when continuity started drawing all DC books into one reality, he was first shown the spirit of his dead father by the Spectre, then he was teamed with the very mystical [[ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger Phantom Stranger]], and from then on he was always wrong, simply because the Stranger's very existence demanded it be so. Dr. 13 currently lives outside of the time stream, aware of his own fictional nature; he is teamed with an alien, a vampire, a French caveman, and a talking vampire gorilla with Nazi leanings, his daughter is a rather powerful witch, and he believes none of this.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, {{Science Hero}}es like ComicBook/IronMan and [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] acknowledge that [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] ''might'' be an actual god (though they tend to think of him and all other mythological beings as closer to {{sufficiently advanced alien}}s; Thor was actually {{retcon}}ned to be this by Creator/WarrenEllis, but who knows if it stuck) and that characters like ComicBook/DoctorStrange, the Beyonder, and the Characters/ScarletWitch are doing ''something'' beyond their comprehension. That doesn't mean they're comfortable with not understanding what's going on, don't stop looking for ways to explain it, or that they're specifically religious. The closest we ever get is one or two incidents of straight-up desperation praying after all viable options have been exhausted. The only science hero that has no problem accepting all of this is [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]]. Though this is a relatively recent development and there are several older stories where these guys have little problem accepting magic and gods or at least being convinced of it rather quickly. {{Flanderization}} in action.

** Heck, just a page or so earlier ''in that very issue'' with the above quote, [[ComicBook/TheThing Ben]] talks about Characters/DoctorDoom's machine for contacting the afterlife, which everyone present knows about.

* ''JLA: Heaven's Ladder'' had the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} meet an alien race that had no religious beliefs... and as a result were doomed to [[CessationOfExistence cease to exist]] when they died, as they had no specific afterlife to go to after death. Using their incredible technology, they decided to [[StartMyOwn create their own heaven instead!]] The plot of the series is kicked off when their lack of a religious belief means they have no frame of reference, leading them to kidnap several planets (Not just the populations of planets, the planets themselves, and everything on them) to study the civilizations and figure out how to make a perfect heaven.

* Nicely justified in Creator/NeilGaiman's take on ''ComicBook/TheEternals'', when Mark Curry refuses to believe Ikarus is an ancient immortal who was worshiped as a god ''because'' he lives in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. "It's a weird world out there, dude. But if Franchise/SpiderMan said he got his powers from reading ''Chariots Of The Gods'', guess I'd figure ''he'' was crazy too."

* Allan Carpentier, the hero of Creator/LarryNiven and Jerry Pournelle's ''Literature/InfernoLarryNivenAndJerryPournelle'' believes that the world he finds himself in is just a copy of Dante's ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'' built by sadistic {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s. [[spoiler:By the end of the first book he has become convinced otherwise but has yet to decide whether or not GodIsEvil]].

* ''Literature/StarWarsLostStars'': A {{downplayed|Trope}} example. Thane works for the Rebellion with Luke Skywalker living just down the hall but continues to believe the Force is ridiculous nonsense. Doubly so with so many people in living memory who knew the Jedi. Also, despite the staggering amount of really weird happenstances that have kept bringing him and Ciena back together. However, he's never shown as seeing any hard evidence (Luke doesn't appear on page in the book nor apparently use his powers where Thane can see, and witnesses don't interact with him), thus his view seems more reasonable at first since he just hears people state their ''belief'' in the Force. In the end, he comes around to believing it's real from the aforementioned happenstances just becoming too much for explaining as being coincidences.

** Various books have several characters who refuse to believe in Jesus despite personally witnessing his miracles, prescribing them rather to him [[DealWithTheDevil being in league with Satan]]. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man begs Abraham to let him warn his relatives of hell after he's sent there, but Abraham cites this trope, saying if they did not believe Moses and the prophets, they would not even if a man came {{back from the dead}}. Additionally, some modern apologists argue that all atheists are this, claiming they truly do know God exists but simply refuse him worship (i.e. making them actually {{Nay Theist}}s). Others dispute this, naturally. It has to be noted that the terms "unbelievers" and "atheists" had broader meanings back in the day and referred mostly to {{Nay Theist}}s and people who might believe God (or gods) ''existed'', but did not ''have faith'' in Him / them, though atheists in the sense we know it were also known (from other places largely, such as ancient Greece). There were also of course some who didn't believe the Judeo-Christian god existed but had their own. In fact, though, the opposite was more common-pagans often accepted that God existed but was just one part of the pantheon, or simply disagreed with specific Christian theology (for instance, a lot of pagan philosophers believed that a supreme deity existed, they just thought him [[GodInHumanForm becoming a man]] is absurd).

* Roger, the main character of ''Go Fish'', is a great example of this trope. Despite being recruited to be a god's contact on Earth, meeting various gods and angels, and actually ''visiting the realm where the gods live'', he still identifies himself as an atheist in a recent [[http://gofish.comicgenesis.com/d/20080530.html comic]].

** Hawkgirl, who does not believe in anything supernatural despite winning a fantastical battle against Doctor Fate and personally knowing a zombie, not in gods despite meeting and [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu killing]] [[PigLatin Icthultu]], and not in souls despite being taken over by the literal soul/s of ancient SnakePeople who put their souls into a gem, and [[Franchise/WonderWoman knowing]] [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Wonder Woman]]. Though to be fair, it's not so much that she thinks Ichultu doesn't exist so much as her people deciding that the EldritchAbomination who demanded child sacrifices to not be worth worshiping.
** Franchise/WonderWoman and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} are used by the [[WriterOnBoard Writers on Board]] to dump the idea that faith is a hollow thing that brings happiness when in actuality Franchise/WonderWoman is based in the blessings of Myth/ClassicalMythology with a real Hera and bracelets made of [[MadeOfIndestructium Zeus's Aegis]] on her wrists, while Aquaman stated that his Atlantis was based in the use and misuse of magic, resulting in his trident and in a temporary age of peace for the Earth from monsters like [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Icthultu]].

* {{Subverted}} in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Revenant", where a ghost seems to be haunting Terry's school.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'': In "Groped By an Angel," Daria doesn't believe in God or guardian angels. We can ignore the fact that they ''do'' canonically exist (as seen in the ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' ChristmasEpisode "[[ItsAWonderfulPlot It's a Miserable Life]]"), since she wouldn't know that. However, Daria also met a bunch of {{Anthropormorphic Personification}}s of holidays in "Depth Takes a Holiday." Perhaps another reason that most fans consider that BizarroEpisode to be [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]].

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' Steve, [[CharacterizationMarchesOn who in previous seasons was shown to be fairly religious]], refuses to believe in Biblical stories that he finds illogical, like Noah's Ark. This despite the fact that a) he once met God and temporarily gained enlightenment, b) his mother's repressed sexuality once manifested as a ghost and attacked the house, c) his family has a long-running feud with [[BadSanta Santa]], d) his grandfather is TheKrampus, and e) his sister once adopted the baby AntiChrist, who proceeded to MindControl Steve for most of the episode. Given all that, his VERY SUDDEN lack of belief is rather odd. (An argument ''could'' be made that the {{Christmas Episode}}s are LooseCanon, but that doesn't explain the rest.)

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'' when Donald, the assistant to the [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction Global Defence Agency]] director Cecil, is shaken after meeting Damien Darkblood, a ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} CaptainErsatz.
-->'''Cecil:''' You got a problem with the demon? I thought you were an atheist, Donald.
-->'''Donald:''' Th-theoretically.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "Groped By an Angel," Daria doesn't believe in God or guardian angels. We can ignore the fact that they ''do'' canonically exist (as seen in the ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' ChristmasEpisode "[[ItsAWonderfulPlot It's a Miserable Life]]"), since she wouldn't know that. However, Daria also met a bunch of {{Anthropormorphic Personification}}s of holidays in "Depth Takes a Holiday." Perhaps another reason that most fans consider that BizarroEpisode to be [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]].

-->'''Buford:''' I don't believe in space ships!
-->'''Isabella:''' But Buford, you've been ''in'' a space ship. Several, actually.
-->'''Buford:''' I'm a skeptic.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', when everyone is told about their powers Cornelia is skeptical and assumes it's a magic trick. This despite, as lampshaded, the fact she saw magical pictures appear out of thin air and the fact her friends ''have powers''.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, {{Science Hero}}es like ComicBook/IronMan and [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] acknowledge that [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] ''might'' be an actual god (though they tend to think of him and all other mythological beings as closer to {{sufficiently advanced alien}}s; Thor was actually {{retcon}}ned to be this by Creator/WarrenEllis, but who knows if it stuck) and that characters like ComicBook/DoctorStrange, the Beyonder, and the Characters/ScarletWitch are doing ''something'' beyond their comprehension. That doesn't mean they're comfortable with not understanding what's going on, don't stop looking for ways to explain it, or that they're specifically religious. The closest we ever get is one or two incidents of straight-up desperation praying after all viable options have been exhausted. The only science hero that has no problem accepting all of this is [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]]. Though this is a relatively recent development and there are several older stories where these guys have little problem accepting magic and gods or at least being convinced of it rather quickly. {{Flanderization}} in action.

* In ''TheCoffinJoeTrilogy'', the title character refuses to believe in God, Satan, and general supernatural activity, despite frequently being a target of ghostly/demoniac apparitions within the trilogy. It's never confirmed if the apparitions are [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane real or a product of his mind]].

** [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Walter Peck]] in the [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} first movie]] firmly refuses to believe in ghosts even when his own actions cause the rampaging ghost menace in the first place (or maybe he had his denial blinders on). Plus the hundreds of eyewitnesses who have seen ghosts and seen the Ghostbusters at work. Peck's accusation that the Ghostbusters use gas to cause hallucinations is made without the slightest shred of evidence.

* The atheist philosopher Oolon Coluphid in ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' is a variation. One of his antitheistic books, "Well, That Just About Wraps It Up For God", is said by the Guide to hinge entirely on the argument that God refuses to prove that he exists, for proof denies faith, and [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly without it, he is nothing]] - but he did prove that he existed as the Babel Fish is a creature far too useful not to be intelligently designed, and therefore [[InsaneTrollLogic God cannot exist as he has proven his own existence]]. The Guide acknowledges that this argument is 'a bunch of dingo's kidneys'. The book version of the story expands on the theism of the setting, where God does definitely exist and even left a final message to humanity. Unfortunately, GodIsInept as well.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': The plot for the tenth game, ''Mountain of Faith'', involves a god attempting to collect the faith of everyone in Gensokyo because she believed the dwindling faith its inhabitants had in its deities would cause massive chaos (that said faith [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve would be an enormous boost to her power]] was apparently just a bonus). Considering gods in Gensokyo not only have human-like forms but regularly chat with humans and {{youkai}} alike (or pelt them with [[BulletHell danmaku]], whichever seems more fun), either its inhabitants are this trope or don't find it necessary to have faith in beings that are readily defeated by a CuteWitch and a {{Miko}} or are NayTheist. Reimu's shrine famously [[PerpetualPoverty never gets donations]]. However, this is explained as being less that the people have no faith in the god, and more that they have no faith in [[BrilliantButLazy the miko]].

* The atheist conduct (a voluntary extra challenge) in ''Videogame/NetHack'' is particularly ridiculous, where you can play as an atheist (never praying for help, making use of altars, or even talking to priests) even though your mission is to perform a sacrifice to your god in the astral plane.

** Even with all the supernatural events she's personally exposed to, Madoka Hiroo from ''VisualNovel/DeathMark'' completely refuses to believe in anything "unscientific".

* ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When the Order [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0694.html finds a message]] left by Girard Draketooth for Azurite Paladin Soon Kim, he disdainfully comments on how logic is "the part of your brain that weeps every time you kneel down and pray to a glorified petting zoo". This, in a typical fantasy setting where the gods are ''real'' and bestow genuine power on those who take Divine classes... like ''Paladins''.

** Taken to hilarious extremes, for the sake of a joke, in the Rankin-Bass film ''WesternAnimation/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas'', in which a young atheist mouse says he doesn't believe in Santa... despite Santa having ''a phone number'' and a ''staff of people to answer any calls''. When he says this, the athe-mouse's dad gives him a look that is the '70s animated special equivalent of "Wow, you're spectacularly dumb". This is a world where Santa is '''so clearly and explicitly real''' that when he ''tells'' the town's mayor [[DisproportionateRetribution he won't come here this year due to the athe-mouse insulting him in a newspaper]] (yes...) the mayor attempts to build a huge beacon to tell Santa how much they're really, really sorry. In other words, Santa is at least as real as any other businessman the town is trying to curry favor with. And the athe-mouse kid still didn't believe it till his father showed him '''everyone else in town did'''. The irony? [[KnowNothingKnowitall Athe-mouse is the SMART one in his family]] ([[BlatantLies by his reckoning]]). Yikes.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': Dialogue options allow the player character (in every game) to be atheistic, or at least reject the Chantry faith (despite events in ''Dragon Age: Origins'', at least, reinforcing their concept of Andraste as divine.) The Dalish gods are similarly rejected by many characters, mostly the Chantry [[spoiler:they did exist, although it's revealed in ''Dragon Age: Inquisition'' that they weren't much more than powerful mages.]] And while what Dwarves believe are usually down to the individual, they generally focus their worship on Ancestors and Paragons and reject all other faiths as a breach of tradition.

*** Turns out the Ethereals know damn well that Chaos is real but hide this knowledge from the rest of the Tau. The main reason Commander Farsight formed his own breakaway colony away from the Ethereals is that he figured this out. He believes that denying the existence of the supernatural is a mistake and that the Tau cannot prevail with their technology alone. They need magic of their own. Farsight puts this philosophy into practice on the battlefield, wielding an alien sword of mysterious origin called the Dawn Blade.

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* In ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', the title character gives a speech in which he calls death "The undiscovered country from whose bourn / No traveler returns" in spite of the fact that he's spoken with the ghost of his father.
* In ''Theatre/DoctorFaustus'', right after he summons Mephistopheles and proceeds to sell his immortal soul to the Devil, Faustus makes comments to the effect that he doesn't believe in Hell or damnation and thinks that they are just metaphorical. This rather annoys Mephistopheles, who is a FallenAngel, and who dryly notes that his own person rather proves the reality of those things.
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