History Main / HijackedByJesus

* [[Music/{{Therion}} Therion's]] "Birth of Venus Illegitima" discusses an event from ClassicalMythology using a terminology of sin, forbidden sexuality, paradise and Hell that's far more Christian than Greek. (While "Venus" is the Roman name, Aphrodite being born from the sea was a purely Greek conceit.)

** The Roman winter solstice festival and the Celtic/Norse Yule were taken over by/merged with Christmas.

* In the movie version of ''Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', Hades is, once again, a villain [[spoiler:though not the BigBad]]. Who is apparently portrayed as a fiery devil-creature, though that's just his favored form. The Hades from the book version seems to be this trope at first, but [[spoiler:Ares is the real villain]].

* Believe it or not, the CthulhuMythos fell prey to this very early on, as August Derleth, who arguably rescued Creator/HPLovecraft from total obscurity, attempted to shape the Mythos into a coherent SharedUniverse, in an essay, framed it as a struggle between a good and evil pantheon, the former represented by Nodens, an actual minor deity from real life mythology, who had a cameo in one of Lovecraft's stories. This did not catch on.

* Origins of various words meaning Christian God in different languages predate Christianity. Theos, Deus, Dievas, God, Allah, etc.

** It's often believed in the scholarship of Myth/NorseMythology that Loki was the pretty standard TricksterArchetype found in about half the tales, not the sudden betrayer of the gods/Satan analog that shows up partway through Creator/SnorriSturluson's writing. Loki may have even been an aspect of Odin.
*** On the other hand, the Lokasenna, in the Poetic Edda, is generally considered to preserve largely pre-Christian sources, and depicts the precise same betrayal.

It should be noted that [[TruthInTelevision this has happened]] a number of times historically. As proselytizing sects spread into new regions, they often incorporate existing beliefs into their canon, in order to make the new religion more palatable to others. For example, the medieval story of the hermit Josaphat (not to be mistaken with the King Jehoshaphat of Judea, or the 17th-century martyr St. Josaphat) was a Christianized version of the life of Gautama Buddha. Often, polytheistic cultures "converted" to Christianity simply transferred the worship of individual gods to the ''saints'' that most resembled them (in some cases, the old pagan gods were remade ''into'' saints).

** [[IncredibleHercules On a grander scale, Hercules is the Jesus figure, Zeus is the God figure, Ares is Lucifer, and Pluto is Satan.]]

* When dealing with Ancient Greece in The Knight's Tale, [[TheCanterburyTales Chaucer]] is mostly accommodating of the fact that they were pre-Christian, but does have some small slips like having them observe Sundays.

* In ''Wielding A Red Sword'', from PiersAnthony's ''IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, the Hindu protagonist equates {{Satan}} with Shiva... who is supposed to be a highly positive force of rebirth and renewal.

* It is sometimes claimed that almost every aspect of Jesus' story in the Gospel Accounts was lifted wholesale from the god Mithras (born of a virgin, birth attended by shepherds and Magi, twelve disciples, last supper, death and resurrection, etc.). While there were some similarities between the rituals of early Christianity and Mithraism, the "Jesus is a carbon-copy of Mithras" claim isn't taken very seriously by credible scholars.

* {{Subverted}} in ''The Lightning Thief'', the first novel of ''PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''. When Zeus' master lightning bolt is stolen, the first suspect is Hades. Hades is believed to have stolen the master bolt in order to start a rebellion. As it turns out, the thief was actually [[spoiler:the lead character's camp counselor, Luke]].

* In JohnMilton's ''ParadiseLost'', he informs us that the devils are future pagan gods.

* ''Videogame/KidIcarusUprising'': Does a similar adaptation of the Greek Myths as Disney's Hercules which isn't surprising considering the series is set in Angel Land. Hades is depicted as a satanic figure with no redeeming qualities, and the Underworld is depicted as Hell run by AlwaysChaoticEvil Grim Reaper figures.

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] during the Enlightenment, when Ashkenazi Judaism adopted many elements of Christian liturgy in an effort to modernize.

* Hades (and occasionally Ares) in the ''JusticeLeague'' cartoon was also painted as Satan, or a reasonable facsimile.
** Even more explicitly, ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' showed Tartarus as an analogy to Hell to the point that it actually had demons that shirked in fear from Hawkgirl when they mistook her for an angel. Hawkgirl muddies the waters a bit when, a moment later, she hopes they don't run into any ''smart'' denizens of Tartarus.

** This isn't the first time Hades' image was hijacked. Disney's ''The Goddess of Spring'', a pre-cursor to ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', made the merger between Satan and Hades ''even more'' blatant. WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick gave her review going on in detail about how poorly this was handled.

** Chernobog also shows up, as a euphemism for Satan, in the legends surrounding Slavic (especially Ukrainian) monasticism; Bald Mountain (Lysa Hora) is where witches' Sabbaths are held and Slavic legends often depict diabolical power being defeated by holy monks. It's an [[ShownTheirWork almost painfully accurate]] [[AdaptationDistillation representation of a legend]], just [[NewerThanTheyThink not an ancient one]]. The only inaccuracy is using a Latin Ave Maria rather than one in Slavonic.

* [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Disney's adaptation]] of ''[[GreekMythology Hercules]]'', featuring Hades as {{Satan}}, Zeus as {{God}} (and a BumblingDad), Hercules as Jesus, and the other Olympians as angels. [[{{Bowdlerise}} To protect family values]], Zeus's "special relationship" with mortal women was ignored, making Hercules a son of ''Hera'', and poisoned (by Hades, of course) with mortality. This moves Hera out of her original ClingyJealousGirl and BigBad roles in the original myths. Interestingly enough, the movie does nothing to rectify Hera's status as Zeus's [[BrotherSisterIncest sister]], however, outside of just not mentioning it. Hades was one of the few Greek Gods who ''didn't'' routinely screw with mortals or curse them, and could even be convinced to help them (Orpheus). Granted, kidnapping Persephone wasn't very nice, but that's probably the worst thing he ever did. And he ''was'' genuinely in love with her, at least. And it was a deal with Zeus as a way of compensating for him getting the short end of the deal (being in charge of the Underworld instead of Sky or Sea).

* Creator/MichaelChabon's novel ''Literature/{{Summerland}}'' is a real doozy. It takes place largely in a world that cheerily mashes together Native American and NorseMythology. This leads to the reveal, utterly brain-breaking if you know your mythology, that Coyote Changer is also Loki AND the Devil. Seriously. (And for its next trick, the rules of the Universe are based on those of baseball.)

* OlderThanPrint: NorseMythology has been influenced by Christianity in several ways, which is often taken even further in works that draws from the myths.
** It's often believed in the scholarship of NorseMythology that Loki was the pretty standard TricksterArchetype found in about half the tales, not the sudden betrayer of the gods/Satan analog that shows up partway through Creator/SnorriSturluson's writing. Loki may have even been an aspect of Odin.

* The god Endovelicus from the Myth/LusitanianMythology, originally a quite well-loved god of health and [[LightEmUp light]] and eventually incorporated into the [[ClassicalMythology Roman Pantheon]], became identified as Lucifer once Christianity settled in. This is quite weird, considering most people back then had the LightIsGood trope taken very seriously, and yet the [[LightIsNotGood opposite]] was what was implied, as both Lucifer and Endovelicus were firmly light aligned (Lucifer means "light wielder"). Note that the god Neto from the same pantheon followed LightIsNotGood more closely, though.

* CelticMythology was not written down until after most Celts had converted to Christianity — as a result, gods were converted to kings and heroes, and millennia-long curses are broken by priests. It's all pretty muddy.

* It has been claimed that the story of the Holy Grail and the Spear of Destiny are likely Christianized versions of older myths. For example, the Fisher King is '''BRÂN THE BLESSED!!!'''

* Norse mythology also influenced Christianity. Hell itself gets its name from the death-goddess Hel, Queen of the Dead.
** Also, at the time the Nordic world was Christianized and the inevitable repression started to come down hard on old-time believers, the symbol of the cult of Thor - a stylized hammer - could so easily look like a cross with a minimal upper vertical. Thor-believers could therefore wear this openly and look, at first glance, like a devout Christian wearing a cross. And vice-versa, in areas where the Old Religion held out longest and Christians were not welcomed.

** The Roman winter solstice festival (birthday of Mithras) and the Celtic/Norse Yule are taken over/merged by Christmas.
** There's no evidence that Mithras was even thought of as having a birthday. There is evidence of Dec. 25th being the feast of the Sun, but only from the fourth century.

** Also, at the time the Nordic world was Christianised and the inevitable repression started to come down hard on old-time believers, the symbol of the cult of Thor - a stylised hammer - could so easily look like a cross with a minimal upper vertical. Thor-believers could therefore wear this openly and look, at first glance, like a devout Christian wearing a cross. And vice-versa, in areas where the Old Religion held out longest and Christians were not welcomed.

* One of the less-known stories in the Finnish national epic ''Literature/TheKalevala'' is the story of Marjatta, a virgin who is impregnated by a lingonberry. (No, not [[{{Squick}} that way]], she eats it.) She gives birth in a stable to a son who becomes the king of Karelia. Seeing that all the stories in ''Literature/TheKalevala'' were collected in early 1800s, this just can't be coincidental. It's likely that it was made up by Elias Lönnrot who collected folktales and songs into a unified national epic, and cut out the most contradictory bits, and added things here and there to tie events together better. It was supposed to symbolise Christianity overtaking the pagan beliefs, as the god-hero Väinämöinen is forced to leave the lands after first trying to condemn the child to death. Interestingly, though, Väinämöinen vows to return when people once again have need for him.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' story ''Pyramids of Mars'' portrayed the Egyptian god Set/Sutekh as a Satan-type -- and a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien to boot. However, the Doctor implied that Sutekh's people might not strictly count as good guys, either.

*** Odin's self-sacrifice to gain knowledge (by hanging himself on the World Tree for three days) bears a striking resemblance to the Crucifixion.

** Of course, it's also worth noting that it was somewhat subverted in the original film, which Hades was barely in (if at all). Zeus is a bit of a father figure to Perseus... but because he actually ''was'' his father (as a result of him having an affair with a King's wife), and he's not depicted as Evil, but he's certainly not Jesus in the usual sense.
** It was King Acrisius's daughter, not his wife

* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' is based on films from the 1930s, which commonly reduced various foreign cultures into caricature. In the film, the complex and sophisticated religion of Hinduism is reduced to nice people worshiping Shiva and murderous Thuggees worshiping Kali. The Thuggees behave like stereotypical Satanic cultists. The real Thugs, those who practiced Thuggee, did worship Kali, but no more so than the Ku Klux Klan worshiped Jesus. While they did tend to ritually murder people, it was by strangulation via a yellow scarf, not ripping hearts out of someone's chest. It wasn't just the British who worked on eradicating them. And, incidentally, Kali herself is ''Shiva's wife''. Not the estranged kind, either.[[note]]Technically, Parvati is Shiva's wife, and Kali is the darker aspect of her, who awakens to strike down Evil when needed. In Indy's defense, though, he does briefly note that the Thuggees are a heretical sect. To clarify it, Kali is a good goddess, but there is a demon ACTUALLY worshiped by Satanists called Kali. Note that there is ''no relation between the two entities''. The confusion exists because, English not having the level of vowel representation Indian languages do, the names of both the demon and the Goddess are written with the same spelling. For those interested, the approximate pronunciations are as follows: the Goddess's name is "Kah-lee", whereas the demon is "Kully". The proper transcriptions are Kālī and Kali.[[/note]]
* Most mummy movies, including those of ''Film/TheMummyTrilogy'', portray gods such as Anubis and Seth as {{Expy}}s of Satan. In reality, Anubis was a protector and judge of the dead and all round cool guy when compared to some of his sibling gods, while Seth was originally god of the deserts of lower Egypt-the legends of his scheming and murder of Osiris is a later myth. In fact, the statues found next to Tutankhamun, called Shabts, would be more appropriate. Of course, while it's true that Anubis was considered a kindly protector whose main concern was making sure souls made it safely to the afterlife, he's ''also'' the guy who checked if your soul was worthy of the next life and tossed it to Ammut as a snack on if it wasn't... In this way, he is more like the Christian God than Satan, as on Judgement Day, he is supposed to throw all sinners into the Lake of Fire.

* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' and its spin-offs suffer a little with this, since Hades is portrayed as a [[EverybodyHatesHades definitely malevolent deity]], and the Underworld he governs has little to do with the Greek underworld (sans Cerberus, Elysium, and the rivers); it's instead a rather faithful manga version of [[TheDivineComedy Dante's Inferno]], which in turn was meant to represent the Christian hell.