History Main / GodEmperor

*** There are ''hints'' (and so far, only hints) that Lorgar fell even before that, with the extreme devotion to the Emperor being being a way to push the boundaries until he could openly worship the Chaos Gods (who he may or may not have believed were wholly benevolent at that time). But yeah, the major slap down he got certainly pushed him down the Cackling-with-Babies-on-Spikes route. Interestingly, it was Lorgar who also caused the Imperium to become a theocracy based on the Emperor's worhip,by way of the writing of the ''Lectitio Divinitatis'' which created the Cult of the Saviour Emperor (which eventually became the Ecclesiarchy). Samizdat writ and early Christian symbology and parallels abound.

*** There are ''hints'' (and so far, only hints) that Lorgar fell even before that, with the extreme devotion to the Emperor being being a way to push the boundaries until he could openly worship the Chaos Gods (who he may or may not have believed were wholly benevolent at that time). But yeah, the major slap down he got certainly pushed him down the Cackling-with-Babies-on-Spikes route. Interestingly, there were a number of religions that sprung up around the Emperor during the Crusade, wholly independently of Lorgar and his influence, most notably the writing of the ''Lectitio Divinitatis'' which created the Cult of the Saviour Emperor (which eventually became the Ecclesiarchy). Samizdat writ and early Christian symbology and parallels abound.

*** There are ''hints'' (and so far, only hints) that Lorgar fell even before that, with the extreme devotion to the Emperor being being a way to push the boundaries until he could openly worship the Chaos Gods (who he may or may not have believed were wholly benevolent at that time). But yeah, the major slap down he got certainly pushed him down the Cackling-with-Babies-on-Spikes route. Interestingly, there were a number of religions that sprung up around the Emperor during the Crusade, wholly independently of Lorgar and his influence, most notably the ''Lectitio Divinitatis'' and the Cult of the Saviour Emperor (which eventually became the Ecclesiarchy). Samizdat writ and early Christian symbology and parallels abound.
*** Actually, Lorgar wrote the ''Lectitio Divinitatus'' that spawned the Cult of the Emperor.
** [[MemeticMutation SPESS MEHRENS! WE HAVE FAILED... THE EMPRAH!]]

* A not-entirely-played-straight example comes from ''[[TheElderScrolls Morrowind]]''. In it, the Dark Elves worship the Tribunal, a trio of living, flesh and blood gods. They exert great influence, but aren't officially the government; rather, there's a separate King of Morrowind, who reports to the Emperor. Still, they are powerful enough, especially in the backstory, to qualify for this trope.
** There is also Tiber Septim, aka Talos, a former Emperor who achieved apotheosis and is worshiped by Imperial citizens as one of the Nine Divines.

* Pretty much what the Black & White series is all about.

* Essentially your role in nearly all RealTimeStrategy or TurnBasedStrategy games. You typically command every unit under your control completely, up to and including telling them do kill themselves, while you yourself are completely untouchable until your complete empire is destroyed. The whole genre is sometimes referred to as "God Games" for this reason.

* In the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' novels and ''DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign setting, the last Kingpriest, Beldinas Pilofiro, tried to turn himself into this.[[Understatement It didn't work so well]]

Note that this shouldn't be confused with the divine right of kings, which was a doctrine holding that kings derive their authority directly from God, as described very succinctly in the quote above.

** This is lampshaded in Warcraft 3 when you click on a human (well High Elf) priest multiple times. At one point he'll say: "I have been selected by the great silver hand in the sky". That 'great silver hand' is your mouse cursor, it hovers over everything else, and yes, it just selected your priest. Othervise he can't say it.

* A not entirely straight ''TheElderScrolls'' Example comes from ''Morrowind'', the third game. In it, the Dark Elves worship the Tribunal, a trio of living, flesh and blood gods. The exert great influence, but aren't officially the government - there's a separate King of Morrowind, who reports to the Emperor. Still, they are powerful enough, especially in the backstory, to qualify for this trope.

** Gaius Caligula jumped the gun and started when he was alive, even wanted [[BerserkButton to put his statue in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem]] (you may guess how the Jews reacted to that). Now of course, there is a reason the trope is called TheCaligula.

* The kings of {{The Twelve Kingdoms}}. Ruling a kingdom comes with such perks as immortality and the ability to speak and understand and language. (or at least Chinese, Japanese and whatever language is spoken in the Twelve Kingdoms) and quite a few very nice palaces. The downside is that they rule badly the ''kirin'' who chose them to rule in the first place will begin to sicken and die which means they will die sooner or later as well, along with the weather and youma running wild in the kingdom. If the king doesn't change their ways the only way to avoid this is to step-down from the throne and commit suicide.

* In the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' novels and ''DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign setting, the last Kingpriest, Beldinas Pilofiro, tried to turn himself into this. It didn't work so well.

* The kings of the {{Twelve Kingdoms}}. Ruling a kingdom comes with such perks as immortality and the ability to speak and understand and language. (or at least Chinese, Japanese and whatever language is spoken in the Twelve Kingdoms) and quite a few very nice palaces. The downside is that they rule badly the ''kirin'' who chose them to rule in the first place will begin to sicken and die which means they will die sooner or later as well, along with the weather and youma running wild in the kingdom. If the king doesn't change their ways the only way to avoid this is to step-down from the throne and commit suicide.

* The ''{{Touhou}}'' series has Suwako Moriya. In a reversal of how this trope usually goes, she was already a Mountain Goddess, but became the ruler of the kingdom of Moriya in addition to this after she single-handedly tamed the Curse Gods of the area.

* The ''{{Touhou}}'' series has Suwako Moriya, a Mountain Goddess who, in ancient times, became the ruler of her own kingdom after she single-handedly tamed the Curse Gods in the area.

* Suwako Moriya of ''{{Touhou}}'', a Mountain God who, in ancient times, became the ruler of her own kingdom after she single-handedly tamed the Curse Gods in the area.

* In the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' novels and ''{{DungeonsAndDragons}}'' campaign setting, the last Kingpriest, Beldinas Pilofiro, tried to turn himself into this. It didn't work so well.

* In the ''Dragonlance'' novels and ''DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign setting, the last Kingpriest, Beldinas Pilofiro, tried to turn himself into this. It didn't work so well.