History Main / HijackedByJesus

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, this happens In-Universe with the [[SaintlyChurch religion of the Eight (later Nine) Divines]] absorbing and replacing other pantheons. Elements of those deities tend to be absorbed by their most-similar Divine equivalent, which leads to to some of the [[SplitPersonality bizarrely conflicting traits]] and [[OddJobGods spheres of influence]] present in the Divines. For example, Kynareth, the Divines' Goddess of the Air with a FriendToAllLivingThings slant, absorbed the {{Valkyrie}}[=/=]{{Psychopomp}} role of her [[HornyVikings Nord]] and [[CatFolk Khajiit]] equivalents in Kyne and Khenarthi. One rare exception comes with regards to Akatosh (the chief deity of the Divines Pantheon and "Dragon God of Time") and Ruptga (the "Tall Papa" chief deity of the Yokudan/[[ScaryBlackMan Redguard]] pantheon). While some sources associate the two, they are typically treated as separate entities. The biggest difference seems to be that Akatosh participated in [[TheMaker Lorkhan]]'s plan to create Mundus (the mortal plane), while Ruptga did not "participate or approve" of Sep's (Lorkhan's Yokudan counterpart) plan. The act of creating Mundus severely weakened the Divines, so not participating would leave Ruptga at full divine power with CompleteImmortality, closer to the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]].

->'''Edward:''' Hear how they talk to us? (''laughs'') The Gods. Listen pal, back in the day we were worshipped by millions.\\

* InUniverse example: ''TheKingAndI'' has the ShowWithinAShow ''The Small House of Uncle Thomas,'' in which Buddha is a very obvious [[CrystalDragonJesus stand-in for Jesus]]. This is part of the joke.

*** Odin's self-sacrifice to gain knowledge (by hanging himself on the World Tree for nine days) bears a striking resemblance to the Crucifixion. Note especially that Odin sacrificed himself ''to himself'' -- and since conventional Christianity interprets Jesus as a manifestation of God, the Crucifixion was a case of the Christian God sacrificing himself to himself. However, there are no reported Viking activities in the area of Israel at the time, and all reported versions of that myth are from ''after'' Christianity became a thing in Europe, so it may also be a case of the Vikings trying to hijack Christian stories, instead of the other way. It may also be just a coincidence: deaths by hanging were a common punishment in real life, same as crucifixion, but the part of the god having his side torn by a pike seems too specific and suggests an influence in either way.

*** Odin's self-sacrifice to gain knowledge (by hanging himself on the World Tree for nine days) bears a striking resemblance to the Crucifixion -- especially considering that Odin was sacrificing himself ''to himself'', similar to the conventional Christian interpretation of Jesus as a manifestation of God and thus also served as a sacrifice to himself. However, there are no reported Viking activities in the area of Israel at the time, and all reported versions of that myth are from ''after'' Christianity became a thing in Europe, so it may also be a case of the Vikings trying to hijack Christian stories, instead of the other way. It may also be just a coincidence: deaths by hanging were a common punishment in real life, same as crucifixion, but the part of the god having his side torn by a pike seems too specific and suggests an influence in either way.

*** Odin's self-sacrifice to gain knowledge (by hanging himself on the World Tree for nine days) bears a striking resemblance to the Crucifixion. However, there are no reported viking activities in the area of Israel at the time, and all reported versions of that myth are from ''after'' Christianity became a thing in Europe, so it may also be a case of the vikings trying to hijak Christian stories, instead of the other way. It may also be just a coincidence: deaths by hanging were a common punishment in real life, same as crucifixion, but the part of the god having his side torn by a pike seems too specific and suggests an influence in either way.

* The {{DC Extended Universe}}:

*** Christmas is actually rather debatable. Early theologians reasoned that good men died on the die they were conceived. The earliest record was when someone said March 25 was the day Jesus was conceived, and added nine months. There are actually theories that Christmas was celebrated well before the Roman holiday of ''Dies Natalis Sol Invictus'', and the Romans created it to counter Christmas.

1 Corinthians 10:20
“But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.”

* An interesting variation took place in a ChristmasEpisode of ''NorthernExposure'', where the town of Cicily combined Christmas traditions with the local tribe's "Raven Festival", based on the story of [[TheTrickster Raven]] and the Sun-Holder's Daughter. While this is a traditional Raven story among some tribes and the depiction in the show is fairly accurate, it does make Raven seem like a CrystalDragonJesus. In one of the few points where Joel's receptionist [[TheQuietOne Marilyn Whirlwind]] spoke more than a few words at a time, she told the story to Joel:

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' publishes a "Deities and Demigods" supplement with most editions. While some of the entries are original pantheons made up from scratch by the company, there are also sections on Egyptian, Greek, and Norse mythology which take this trope UpToEleven. Somehow, even the _Egyptian_ pantheon gets a Satan.
** Even weirder, Egyptian Satan is apparently Apep, of all things.

* Parodied in a ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' skit about the Labours of Hercules, when King Eurystheus asks Hades to go to Hell and get Satan's dog. When Hercules questions this, Eurystheus replies "Well, whatever we call him. You know who I mean: Hell boss. The big bad."

* When dealing with Ancient Greece in The Knight's Tale, [[Literature/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 Brazil, however, many (if not all) slaves had at some point in history struggled for the right to be Christians, with and without the help of Jesuits and former slaves, for their masters saw Christianity and any religion as a risk to they. And through religious syncretism most practitioners consider themselves Catholics (or at least Christians) anyway. One proof of this is that giving up your religion for another Christian religion such as Neo-Pentecostalism or becoming an atheist is much more common, while becoming pagan is something rare and condemned by practitioners of these religions.

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 (with "Bodhisattva" mutating into "Josaphat"). 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). The Catholic church in particular got ''a lot'' of mileage out of this and seeing some procession for some saint in e.g. Latin America, it's not hard at all to imagine what the religious customs prior to Christianity may have looked like.

* If you ask Jews, of course, Christianity ''itself'' is this, with their religion.
** The Jews, in turn, did this with the gods of competing peoples, identifying the other nations' tutelaries with [[{{Demonization}} demons]].
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] during the Enlightenment, when Reform Judaism adopted many elements of Christian liturgy in an effort to modernize. Some of those changes, like having the Sabbath on Sunday, didn't wind up sticking.

* Discussed in ''Series/{{Vikings}}''. The christian priest Athelstan is kidnapped from his church in Britain, and forced to live alongside the vikings. Although he stays loyal to his religion, he couldn't help but notice the similarities between the cruxificion of Jesus and the story of Odin hanging from Yggdrassil. He becomes troubled by those notions, and eventually accepts both religions. And even then he stays troubled, because a true christian may not worship any other god.

*** Odin's self-sacrifice to gain knowledge (by hanging himself on the World Tree for nine days) bears a striking resemblance to the Crucifixion. However, there are no reported viking activities in the area of Israel at the time, and all reported versions of that myth are from ''after'' christianity became a thing in Europe, so it may also be a case of the vikings trying to hijak christian stories, instead of the other way. It may also be just a coincidence: deaths by hanging were a common punishment in real life, same as crucifixion, but the part of the god having his side torn by a pike seems too specific and suggests an influence in either way.

* ''ClassOfTheTitans'' can both avert and succumb to this. While Hades isn't presented as completely evil, his realm still looks like hell. Also, he seems a bit of a... girlish man. It's the voice. The other Gods may have their problems, they do some nasty things to mortals, but they're all still mostly good and Zeus' apparent, um, fooling around with others is never mentioned and his relationship with Hera seems healthy and strong. Kronos, the big bad of the series, is a close allegory to Satan, though, as he pretty much wants to bring about the apocalypse. Other myths and legends are shifted around and can either be really inaccurate or pretty damn close enough. Of course one must keep in mind, this is a kid's show.

* [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Disney's adaptation]] of ''[[Myth/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).

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

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]] hanging from Yggdrassil for 9 days, in the darkness, with his side stabbed by a spear, and with no help from other gods. He died, and was reborn wiser. Hmm, [[ItsBeenDone didn't we heard that story elsewhere?]]]]

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Superman is presented as a Christ-like figure, complete with a CrucifiedHeroShot for Clark Kent and Superman.
* In ''Film/WonderWoman'', Queen Hippolyta tells a young Diana the story of how Zeus created the humans, but that his son, Ares, was jealous and set out to destroy them by seducing them to the dark side of war. And later how Ares rebelled against the other gods and was cast out. Meanwhile, the Amazons were made as a counterpoint to Ares' evil. As [[http://izzythehutt.tumblr.com/post/161397652006/wonder-woman-is-a-weird-feminist-rewrite-of this Tumblr post]] points out, it's basically a weirdly feminist retelling of Genesis where God forgot to make Eve until after Adam was seduced by the serpent alone.

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Superman is presented as a Christ-like figure, complete with a CrucifiedHeroShot for Clark Kent and Superman.

* In ''Film/WonderWoman'', Queen Hippolyta tells a young Diana the story of how Zeus created the humans, but that his son, Ares, was jealous and set out to destroy them by seducing them to the dark side of war. And later how Ares rebelled against the other gods and was cast out. In short, this Ares has more in common with Lucifer from Literature/ParadiseLost than the original myths.

* The ''ValkyrieProfile'' series is based on Norse myth, featuring Odin, the titular Valkyries, and the rest of the Aesir, but also feature very Christian-looking chapels, crosses, and other such artifacts.