History Main / LoserDeity

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Bacchus, making an ass of himself]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/god_of_booze_5.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[HowTheMightyHaveFallen Hard times have fallen on the God of Thunder.]][[note]]Thor from ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' (left) and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (right)[[/note]]]]

** In later novels, it is revealed that Aqua is good at exactly one thing: Convincing dead souls from Japan to reincarnate in the New World and fight the Devil King. Her replacement Eris, who is better than her in every ''other'' way, just doesn't have the bombastic personality to convince people to dedicate their lives to an ImpossibleTask.

* ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'': The gods of Law and Chaos are depicted as playing games (TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons for the former, poker for the latter, Monopoly for both) and not much else. And despite the Dark Gods being Expies of [=Warhammer40K's=] Chaos Gods, they go one step further by showing the Patterner lose a lawsuit to Tzeentch ensuring he can no longer be an avatar of change, and when they meet they have to be pulled apart by their respective {{War God}}s.

* Thor has shades of this in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' where his brashness leads Odin to exile him to Earth [[BroughtDownToNormal without his powers]], during which time Loki takes great pleasure in tarnishing Thor's image. While there he is forced to learn humility and seek out the aid of humans. Only once Thor sets aside his {{pride}} does he regain his godly powers and is allowed to return to Asgard. Played even more straight in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' where the God of Thunder has drowned his grief over the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' in booze and food, becoming an obese alcoholic. Rocket even compares him to "melted icecream". [[note]][[JustifiedTrope Of course]], when you're hit with a long TraumaCongaLine within the span of a few days that culminates in the ultimate one that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you could have stopped had you just gone for Thanos' head rather than his chest just to make him suffer]], with no way to undo that last screwup, [[DespairEventHorizon who wouldn't feel so guilty he'd just wallow away like that]][[/note]].

** Kaio (King Kai) for the most does his job quite well, but he became a joke among his fellow Kaios after [[GrenadeHotPotato Goku's actions]] got him killed (since the Kaios' homes are already part of the SpiritWorld, being dead doesn't really affect his ability to do his job).

** While Knull -- the primordial dark god who created the symbiotes -- is treated as TheDreaded throughout ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesVenom'', in ''ComicBook/KingInBlack: Return of the Valkyries'' he is disparaged by the then-unnamed valkyrie Rūna, who sneers that he's a faker only worshiped by the {{living shadow}}s, {{puppeteer parasite}}s, and {{draconic abomination}}s he created himself. When Knull attempts to intimidate Thor, the God of Thunder tells him to shut up and that Knull is no different from the countless would-be dark gods and demon-lords that Earth has defeated in the past; [[spoiler:and Knull ultimately suffers a rather humiliating CurbStompBattle at the hands of the Unipower-augmented Eddie Brock]].

* In ''Manga/BinboGamiGa'', there's Momiji, the goddess of poverty and misfortune, who was sent to Earth to end the BornLucky status of [[MsFanservice Ichiko Sakura]], whose absurd good luck was unbalancing the Earth. Momiji is a DisabledDeity with only one good hand to use, not so pretty, has ACupAngst (an advantage [[BuxomIsBetter Ichiko exploits well to bother her]]) and, as the goddess of poverty she is, usually sleeps under a river like a hobo.

* The protagonist of ''Literature/TianGuanCiFu'', Xie Lian, is a god known as the "laughingstock of the three realms" for having gotten kicked out of heaven twice and having spent 800 years in the mortal realm collecting scraps to survive.

* In ''Music/BillBailey'''s "Part Troll" show, Bill talks about the [[Myth/HinduMythology three main deities of Hinduism]], Brahma the Creator, Shiva the Destroyer and Vishnu the Maintainer. He then goes off on a tangent about how he feels sorry for Vishnu, imagining him to be an eternally stressed and put-upon janitor who is forever cleaning up the messes that Shiva creates.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Barbatos is the god of freedom and wind, and one of the archons that comprise the Seven, the seven elemental gods that rule over Teyvat. In Barbatos's case, though, "rule" is a loose term--due to his ideals as the God of Freedom, he refuses to exercise any sort of rule over his nation of Mondstadt, and since an archon's power is directly proportional to how proactive they are in ruling their territory, Barbatos is the weakest member of the Seven despite being one of the oldest of them. Unlike the other archons, Barbatos hasn't shown himself to his people in a long time, and people from other nations look down on him believing that he is never there for his people. [[spoiler:The "loser" part is shown further when you meet him as the bard Venti, who has alcoholic tendencies and is treated with very little respect even among those who know his identity. One time, he even got thrown out of his own church when he tried to reveal his identity, as his followers could not believe someone like him could be their god.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}: In ''ComicBook/ExtremeCarnage'', Carnage invokes this when he disparagingly refers to the psuedo-apotheosized Eddie Brock as a pathetic replacement for Knull, due to his apparent indifference to the plight of symbiotes left stranded on Earth, and [[PowerIncontinence the strain of tapping into his new divine powers]] causing his still-mortal body to undergo RapidAging.

** Kaio for the most does his job quite well, but he became a joke among his fellow Kaios after [[GrenadeHotPotato Goku's actions]] got him killed (since the Kaios' homes are already part of the SpiritWorld, being dead doesn't really affect his ability to do his job).
** Shin, the Kaioshin of Universe 7, seemed like a proper TopGod at first, but the more time is spent in his company the more it becomes clear [[GodIsInept he's terrible at his job]]. He's practically [[AChildShallLeadThem a child]] and was [[YouAreInCommandNow forced to take up the position]] after all the Kaioshins were killed or absorbed by Majin Buu, leaving him IncompletelyTrained and prone to making serious rookie mistakes, such as not even knowing who Beerus was. This becomes especially prevalent when [[SealedGoodInACan his ancestor, the Elder Kaioshin, is released]] and is disgusted by Shin's lack of knowledge in basic godly matters; even Goku teases Shin for being less useful than the Elder Kaioshin.
** And speaking of Beerus, he himself is this in spades too. At first, he is presented as a [[TheGodsMustBeLazy lazy]] {{Jerkass God|s}} who gets away with acting like a SpoiledBrat due to his status as a DestroyerDeity. Except we later find out he's ''not'' supposed to act that way and many Gods of Destruction from other universes do a far better job at maintaining order than he does. Most of the threats in ''Z'' were things that Beerus should have dealt with before Goku even knew about them, but he gave Freeza a pass and was asleep for Majin Buu's rampage. Beerus himself is even shunned as an outcast due to his universe harboring Son Goku, whom everyone blames for inspiring the [[GodOfGods Omni-King]] to create the [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne Tournament of Power]].

** Hestia is regarded as a joke among her fellow gods. For a long time she was unable to recruit anyone into her Familia and initially survived by freeloading off Hephaestus. She also had a reputation as one of the only virgin gods who was never able to find a man in heaven. Loki in particular has great fun bullying Hestia over her poverty and short stature. Even after Hestia lucks out and recruits her first member, Bell Cranel, they are forced to face poor living accommodations of an abandoned church with Hestia working several part-time jobs to help them get by.

BeingGodIsHard. Having [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility divine power comes with a lot of responsibilities]], it can be LonelyAtTheTop, and sometimes [[AChildShallLeadThem being young and inexperienced]] makes the job difficult. But worst of all is getting shunned and treated as a joke, either by your fellow gods or even worse (and more dumbfoundingly) by mortals. The specific reasons for a god getting this treatment can be vary: due to them being a [[JerkassGod jerk]], [[TheGodsMustBeLazy being lazy]], because [[GodIsInept they messed up along the way]], or maybe they are just incapable of enforcing their rule, a rather preposterous revelation given the expectations associated with such an entity. In short, they are the godly version of a ButtMonkey.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/god_of_booze.png]]]]

* Aqua from ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'', who is possibly the TropeCodifier and known by the InUniverseNickname of ''Damegami'' (Useless Goddess). Most of her divine powers have no use beyond party tricks, and she tends to either [[ForgotAboutHisPowers forget about her genuinely useful abilities]] or [[NiceJobBreakingItHero use them in ways that make matters worse]]. Added to that, she is childishly jealous of the younger goddess Eris for being a ReasonableAuthorityFigure with a highly successful church; by contrast Aqua sent her own church vague[=/=]petty commands and left it to its own devices, causing it to become filled with deranged lunatics. As a result, whenever Aqua tries to explain who she is, Eris followers assume she's crazy and her own followers ''try to kill her for blasphemy''. Kazuma makes no attempt to hide his utter disdain for Aqua's incompetence and has stated many times he'd happily trade her off if he could.

->''"No more, you lying, two-faced, no more sidling up to me, whining here before me. You, I hate you most of all the Olympian gods. ... If you had sprung from another god, believe me, and grown into such a blinding devastation, long ago you'd have dropped below the Titans, deep in the pit."''

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Barbatos is the god of freedom and wind, and one of the archons that comprise the Seven, the seven elemental gods that rule over Teyvat. In Barbatos's case, though, "rule" is a loose term--due to his ideals as the God of Freedom, he refuses to exercise any sort of rule over his nation of Mondstadt, and since an archon's power is directly proportional to how proactive they are in ruling their territory, Barbatos is the weakest member of the Seven despite being one of the oldest of them. Unlike the other archons, Barbatos hasn't shown himself to his people in a long time, and people from other nations look down on him believing that he is never there for his people. [[spoiler:The "loser" part is shown further when you meet him as the mortal bard Venti, who has alcoholic tendencies and is treated with very little respect even among those who know his identity. One time, he even got thrown out of his own church when he tried to reveal himself once, as his followers could not believe someone like him could be their god.]]

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Barbatos is the god of freedom and wind, and one of the archons that comprise the Seven, the seven elemental gods that rule over Teyvat. In Barbatos's case, though, "rule" is a loose term--due to his ideals as the God of Freedom, he refuses to exercise any sort of rule over his nation of Mondstadt, and since an archon's power is directly proportional to how proactive they are in ruling their territory, Barbatos is the weakest member of the Seven despite being one of the oldest of them. Unlike the other archons, Barbatos hasn't shown himself to his people in a long time, and people from other nations look down on him believing that he is never there for his people. [[spoiler:The "loser" part is shown further when you meet him as the mortal bard Venti, who has alcoholic tendencies and is treated with very little respect even among those who know his identity. He even once got thrown out of his own church when he tried to reveal himself once, as his followers don't believe someone like him could be their god.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{GenshinImpact}}'': Barbatos is the god of freedom and wind. And he is often treated as the biggest joke amongst the seven. Though that is no surprise given that unlike the others, he hasn't shown himself in front of his own people for an incredibly long time. Even people from other nations look down on him believing that he is never there for his people. He lost his powers because he refuses to do his godly duties, and has to rely on the Traveler to do his dirty work. He even got thrown out of his own church when he once tried to reveal himself (His followers don't believe someone like him could be their god). Even those who are aware of his identity don't think much of him. And that's not even getting into his alcoholic tendencies.

** Loki, in a different way to Hestia. While she enjoys much a lifestyle of luxury and wealth as well as a much stronger familia, her own familia members are thoroughly sick of her due to her obnoxious and perverted behavior, and tend to treat her like TheFriendNobodyLikes. It's also clear she is AuthorityInNameOnly in her familia, with Ais, Riveria, and Finn being the ones actually running the show and often needing to tell her off and make her behave.

* Hestia from ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'' is regarded as a joke among her fellow gods. For a long time she was unable to recruit anyone into her Familia and initially survived by freeloading off Hephaestus. She also had a reputation as one of the only virgin gods who was never able to find a man in heaven. Loki in particular has great fun bullying Hestia over her poverty and short stature. Even after Hestia lucks out and recruits her first member, Bell Cranel, they are forced to face poor living accommodations of an abandoned church with Hestia working several part-time jobs to help them get by.

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': Ishtar from Mesopotamian mythology is a highly haughty goddess of beauty and love, who, due to her attitude (and failure to be useful), gets much mockery from a lot of other Servants (including other Divine Servants). Gilgamesh even puts an equivalent of the KickMePrank that instead says "I'm a useless goddess" on her. There's two ''very'' good reasons for that, and the other characters should be grateful for it: first, Ishtar appeared as a pseudo-Servant, thus reducing her power from [[StoryBreakerPower complete invincibility]] to something more manageable, and is possessing Rin Tohsaka, improving the goddess' personality but also inheriting the host's ButtMonkey's tendencies; her infamously [[EpicFail misplacing her Noble Phantasm Gugalanna Strike]] is actually the result of [[spoiler:it ''getting stolen from across dimensions'' by her counterpart from the ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'' universe, who, not appearing as a pseudo-Servant but by possessing a [[EmptyShell homunculus]], has her personality unchanged and a slightly better access to her original abilities]].

** The Greek god Ares is basically divine DumbMuscle, once ending up trapped in a jar and even sent packing by a mortal during the Trojan War. His [[CulturalTranslation Roman equivalent]] Mars, on the other hand, is one of Rome's most important gods and portrayed much more positively.