History Main / OddJobGods

** Zarongel, goblin god of [[SeriousBusiness dog-killing]], fire, and mounted combat. Not entirely random, since Goblins do their mounted combat on riding dogs.

* The title character of ''Manga/BinboGamiGa'' is the goddess of poverty and misfortune.

* As related in the historical novel / "business thriller" ''Console Wars'' (which primarily focuses on the Fourth Generation of [[{{UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars}} said topic]]), one of Creator/{{Sega}}'s executives once made reference to Trafficles, the Greek god of gridlock.

+** Glycon, a minor snake god of fertility who might either be Asclepius' son or avatar, [[Creator/AlanMoore and who still has at least one worshipper alive today]]

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** Cultura is the Draconequi Goddess of Popular Culture. While certainly a weird thing to be based on, [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower it has some impressive powers]], such as being able to copy the powers of fictional characters, summon puppets of them to do her bidding, and trap her enemies in fictional scenarios. She also possesses encyclopedic knowledge of popular culture, all of it, which makes her a pretty skilled manipulator.
** Vehere is the Griffon Goddess of Modern Transportation and Travel. As with Cultura, this is more impressive than it sounds. She's incapable of getting lost (unless he wants to), has encyclopedic knowledge of vehicles, has a photographic memory, and can recreate any vehicle she's cataloged in her scrapbook from thin air, as well as create the means for them to travel wherever she likes. This includes things like tanks. She also can teleport, but she prefers to take the long route.

* Creator/LSpragueDeCamp's short story "The Hardwood Pile" features Aceria, the one of the Tree Nymphs of Norway Maples. After all the Norway Maples in the area are cut down she becomes the Nymph of Piles of Wooden Boards that Used to Be Norway Maples. At the end of the story, she becomes the Nymph of Nightclub Dance Floors Made of Wood From Norway Maples.

* Glen Cook's ''Literature/GarrettPI'', while he doesn't believe in gods [[spoiler:until he's actually hired by some of them]], is a DeadpanSnarker with a personal RunningGag about how the ButtMonkey Odd Job godling who passes out towels in the heavenly loo has a secondary job: messing with Garrett's life. He's also hypothesized that the reason so many shady people in [=TunFaire=] have really stupid nicknames is that some mentally challenged microdeity thinks it's a hoot to slip ideas for them into people's heads while they're squatting over a chamber pot.

** The strange part of Tzeentch isn't their domain. It's that they are a GodOfEvil who's domain is ''hope''.

* The Bastard from the ''Literature/{{Chalion}}'' series. The only god not associated with a season, his domain is all things out of place: demons, children born out of wedlock (obviously), [[HoYay odd loves]], disasters, and unorthodox justice. He also takes the souls of those not devoted to any of the other gods.

* Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, is the father of several. His (divine) kids are:
** Iaso, goddess of recuperating from illness
** Aceso, goddess of the healing process
** Hygieia, goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation
** Panacea, goddess of the universal remedy
** Aglaea, goddess of the glow of good health
** Telesphoros, a dwarf who has the same job as Iaso and is often seen in the company of Hygieia
** Glycon, a minor snake god of fertility who might either be Asclepius' son or avatar, [[Creator/AlanMoore and who still has at least one worshipper alive today]]
** Alexander of Abonutichus, a Macedonian SnakeOilSalesman who proclaimed himself to be Glycon's prophet and Asclepius' grandson

* There's a Capital One ad currently making the rounds featuring Cashios, the [[{{AncientGrome}} Greek / Roman]][[note]]It isn't specified which one.[[/note]] god of cash-back.

** Or perhaps it's St. Julian the Hospitaller, patron of carnies, childless people, clowns, ferrymen, fiddle players, hunters, innkeepers, knights, pilgrims, shepherds, wandering musicians, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and murderers.]]

** The oddest of odd job gods are the Magath, borderline {{eldritch abomination}}s created when two or more kinds of spirit merge that are either antithetical to one another or just form a very, very specific and unlikely niche. For example, the two sample magath in the ''Predators'' splat are "Walkerbreaker", a vehicle/pain hybrid spirit (so, in essence, "spirit of agonizing death by car accident") and Rainsliver, a swarm/glass/murder hybrid spirit that is trying to set itself up as "spirit of murder by glass shards or defenestration".

* ''VideoGame/GunGodz'' ''VideoGame/NuclearThrone'' and has Yung Venuz, the god of guns, who is a white [[{{Cyclops}} cyclopic]] triangle for some reason.

* ''VideoGame/NuclearThrone'' and ''Gun Godz'' has Y.V., the god of guns.

** It should be noted that these only sound like odd jobs to humans. [[BlueAndOrangeMorality To Orks these concepts are as basic as gods of light and dark]].

** The main character Yato probably counts, being a god of calamity. He seems to have been a lot more busy and important in the past, but nowadays has to survive by literally doing odd jobs around town that mortals call him for, like finding their lost pet. He works his ass off getting his number out there so people don't forget about him entirely and he [[CriticalExistenceFailure dies/disappears]] as a result.

* There are some of these in ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'', being mostly lesser deities that serve major gods, like the god of records, goddess of maps, god of battle flags and god of degenerate corpulence. Surprisingly the last one is rather easy going.

* A WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck comic featured a bored nephew of Zeus making him, at his request, the god of cars, television and rock music. At the beginning of the comic he had been rather fed up with these things and planned to go completely over the top with them, so, when the inevitable request for a reset happened, he could sneak in changing the things that were already there before into other, in his opinion, less obnoxious things (such as a radio into a banjo). He managed to botch the job so ''well'' he sent Duckburg's technical prowess back to the 17th century. The only thing he didn't count on was that [[TarAndFeathers tar and feathers]] still existed, which the rather angry Ducksburg population were more than happy to remind him of after being BroughtDownToNormal again.

* In ''ComicBook/PS238'', the reincarnation of the Hestia, Greek goddess of the hearth, is in the Rainmaker Program, where superkids whose powers don't lend themselves to crime-fighting [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower learn other uses for them]]. They're thinking she could be the world's best advice columnist, fertility clinician or marriage counselor. She's also the goddess of SacredHospitality, though, and can actually [[LetsGetDangerous become dangerous]] if people violate those rules.
* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' has Shadrak, an alien god of the Diamond Moons of Oghogho (driven mad by being forced to witness the butchering of his pantheon). Shadrak variously claimed to be the God of Wine and Waterfalls, the God of Songs and Somersaults, the God of Baubles and Ballerinas, the God of Kittens and Coconuts, and the God of Pancackes and Tambourines. As it turns out, he was [[spoiler:hiding his guilt in designing a god-destroying device by lying about being Shadrak, God of Bombs and Fireballs]]. After his sanity is (partially) restored, he takes on a new role assisting the Lord Librarian (God of Recorded Knowledge) as Shadrak, God of Daffodils and Documentation.

** Prince Sermo's domain of Newscasters doesn't seem like much compared to other common concepts like Integrity, Research, and Knowledge, but it's actually [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower more powerful than it appears]]. Being a god of Newscasters grants him telepathic and telekinetic abilities, some degree of [[MakeSomeNoise Sound magic]], the ability to create holographic projections, and the ability to [[{{Omniglot}} instantly understand and speak any language]]. Sermo's domain also grants him a degree of technopathic ability allows him to control technology associated with newscasters, such as computers, cameras, and so on, with his powers changing and adapting as technology changes according to the standards of each Age.

** Prince Crystal Clear's domain of Stage Crews doesn't seem as common or impressive as Sound or Technology, yet as is the case with Sermo's domain of Newscasters, it's actually more powerful than it looks. he possesses telepathic, empathic, and telekinetic powers for communication/coordination and multitasking, respectively, and he has precognitive abilities that allow him to protect his stage crews from accidents. He can also heal his co-workers and grant them various boons that allow them do their jobs more effectively, such as enhanced stamina and endurance.

* In the short film ''A Case of Spring Fever'', our protagonist encounters Coily the Spring Sprite, a seemingly-omnipotent being (or at least a high-powered RealityWarper) that has an odd preoccupation with springs.

** Anoia, minor goddess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers [[spoiler:(formerly a volcano goddess)]]... who is heading up; in ''Literature/MakingMoney'' she's said to be tapped to be the new Goddess of Lost Causes, a growth industry on a world where "{{Million to One Chance}}s crop up nine times out of ten". Note that Anoia's revival was pretty much fortuitous, derived from events she had no control over or any part in; but people believed she did, and belief is everything....

* Creator/LSpragueDeCamp's short story "The Hardwood Pile" features Aceria, the one of the Tree Nymphs of Norway Maples. After all the Norway Maples in the area are cut down she becomes the Nymph of Piles of Wooden Boards that Used to Be Norway Maples. At the end of the story she becomes the Nymph of Nightclub Dance Floors Made of Wood From Norway Maples.

* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': Tamora Pierce's series of books set in universe has the big gods, like Mithros (war and justice), and the Goddess (fertility, women, agriculture), but it also has minor gods like Weiryn (god of the hunt for a small mountainous area), and rather hilariously a god of [[AtTheCrossroads crossroads]].
* Glen Cook's ''Literature/GarrettPI'', while he doesn't believe in gods [[spoiler:until he's actually hired by some of them]], is a DeadpanSnarker with a personal RunningGag about how the ButtMonkey Odd Job godling who passes out towels in the heavenly loo has a secondary job: messing with Garrett's life. He's also hypothesized that the reason so many shady people in [=TunFaire=] have really stupid nicknames is that some mentally-challenged microdeity thinks it's a hoot to slip ideas for them into people's heads while they're squatting over a chamber pot.

* In Jennifer Fallon's ''Demon Child Trilogy'', the Primal gods are natural deities (War, Love, Fertility, Music, etc.) and the Incidental gods are this. They are demons that gained enough followers to become a god. There are Incidental gods of Poets, and Artists.

* The short story ''400 Rabbits'' by Alice "Huskyteer" Dryen, published in the {{Anthology}} ''Gods with Fur (and Feathers and Scales)'', features the Centzon Totochtin from Myth/AztecMythology, 400 rabbit gods of drunken parties. In the story, each of the 400 rabbits is the personification of a different aspect of drunkenness. The protagonist is Eighty-Six-Rabbit, the god of attempting to chat up your best friend's betrothed. Fifty-Five-Rabbit is the goddess of attempting to chat up your best friend. Three-Twenty-Three-Rabbit is the god of inability to tie you shoelaces (even through shoelaces don't exist in Mesoamerica yet). Twenty-Rabbit is the deity of risky showing off. At one point, Two-Rabbit threatens to demote Eighty-Six-Rabbit to being god of being projectile vomited on. The plot of the story is kicked off by Eighty-Six-Rabbit getting sick of waking up with a hangover every morning with no memory of the party the night before and deciding to try being sober. In the end he realized that he and the rest of his siblings should drink and party because they want to and not because they have to.
* Creator/NKJemisin's ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'' has a huge number of gods, each with an "affinity" for some element(s) of the universe. Some of these are less than glamorous, such as Dump, Lord of Discards, who quite happily lives DownInTheDumps with a posse of {{Street Urchin}}s. This can sometimes result in MundaneMadeAwesome, since gods who "live true" to their affinities can become tremendously powerful.

* Catholicism has a long tradition of appointing {{Patron Saint}}s with job descriptions often based on what they did in real life or what happened them in their martyrdom; also you can generally expect them to be the patron saint of the place where their remains are kept. It should be pointed out that saints are not gods and are not worshiped by mainstream Catholics, but in some cultures local deities have been known to assume the personality of saints, and vice versa.

** The Catholic Church has a habit of adding to a popular saint's portfolio if they could justify the connection. Thus, you have St. Joseph (Jesus' adopted dad) being the patron saint of fathers and social justice (among others), St. Matthew (writer of the first book of the New Testament and a former tax collector) being the patron saint of tax collectors and stock brokers, St. Isidore of Seville (he wrote an encyclopedia in the seventh century) now patron saint of computers and the Internet[[note]]Not "officially" (the Holy See has not spoken on the issue), but he was voted as such in an Italian poll[[/note]] and St. Thomas Aquinas (noted Catholic theologian) standing for learning but somehow against lightning.

** St. Anthony the Hermit, also known as the Father of Monks, Anthony the Abbot and Anthony the Great, is often depicted with a pig (because the 11th century Antonite order had the right to let a so-called Antonius pig run free through a village to fend for itself). Proceeding from that pig, St. Anthony became patron saint not just of pigs and swineherds, but eventually of all domestic animals and against their diseases, of butchers and brushmakers, and also against various human diseases.
** St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of finding lost things. Known in his lifetime for his phenomenal memory (so he's patron saint of that, too), public speaking ability (so he's patron saint of that, too) and for pretty casually doing miracles (so he's... you guessed it) along with poor people, women who can't have kids, social justice and saints on the fast track (the Pope took only six months to canonize him, saying he knew him personally).

** The winner of this unfortunate competition is probably St. Drogo, patron saint of bodily ills, broken bones, hernias, sick people, insane people, ugly people, orphans, shepherds and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking coffee shop owners]]. No, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Drogo we're not making that one up.]]

** St. Athanasius as the herald of spring (he's celebrated in the end of January and while there's plenty of winter cold ahead, by this time the days have gotten noticeably longer since the winter solstice).

** It has patron saints of nuclear missiles, strategic bombers and other weapons of mass destruction. St. Barbara is the heavenly patron of the Strategic Missile Forces of Russia. Much older tradition: St. Barbara has been recognized as the patron saint of artillery, fireworks, and other gunpowder objects since the invention of the European gunpowder, in Catholicism as well as in Orthodoxy. Indeed, she is also the heavenly patron of U.S. Army and Marine artillery as well as artillery arms of many other countries.

** Guan Yu, the god of war, legendary hero, protector of all of China, champion against demons, and once one of the most popular gods among all the classes. He is also the patron god of bean curd (tofu) since before he became a warrior he was a bean curd merchant. It's more important than it sounds since bean curd has traditionally been an important food in China. Another interesting aspect of Guan Yu is the fact that he is the patron of both law enforcement and organised crime, since both are activities which emphasize loyalty and being a badass.

** Tyr. While he's often said to be a "war god", this "domain" only seems to have come about due to lots of people taking his identification with Mars at face-value (and even Mars wasn't solely a war god). Among Germanic peoples, he was a god of victory, justice (overlapping with Forseti), the thing (an assembly), and anything relating to law generally. Etymology takes this to a whole other level as his name is cognate with the likes of Zeus, meaning he was probably a sky god and king of the other Germanic gods originally.

** Heaven also contains literal odd job gods, being people who are only good for basic paperwork, filing and message carrying.

* ''The Primal Order'', by Wizards of the Coast, is a sourcebook ideas and rules on how to handle deity-level action in fantasy games. Their two "official" example deities? [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The Hawaiian goddess Pele and Joey, god of basket-weaving]].

** The Daedric Princes offer a fairly true to life take on the randomness of gods. For example, Peryite the Taskmaster is viewed by some as the weakest of the Princes. His sphere is pestilence, but also the ordering of the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lowest orders]] of Oblivion. Other Daedric Princes cover odd spheres such as nightmares, decay, hunting, shadows, pariahs, luck, or ''cheese''.
** Alduin, the BigBad of ''Skyrim'', is specifically the god of "world-eating"; a BeastOfTheApocalypse who returns the world to it's primordial state so that it can be reborn into a new world. While performing his duties as the World Eater, he is said to be an invincible monster who dwarfs mountains and eats entire countries in a single bite. When he's not, [[BroughtDownToBadass he's simply a very powerful and almost-invincible dragon]].

** The Magna-Ge, aka "Star Orphans", are et'Ada ("original spirits") who fled Mundus (the mortal plane) along with their "father" Magnus (God of Magic and "architect" of Mundus) during the creation of Mundus. Some of the Magna-Ge seem to govern over or are associated with some unusual, often [[MindScrew mind-bending]] concepts. The commonality between them seems to be that they are all fleeting things, perhaps associated with luck or chance. Examples include synesthesia, the catching of fish, ''burping'', the doom of new ideas, ideas that too quickly come to fruition, and "divide-the-line" wisdom. This makes sense, of course, as the Magne-Ge were those et'Ada who had interest in the idea of the world Lorkhan wanted to create, but weren't committed enough to make the sacrifice needed to become a part of that world like the Aedra. The concepts they are associated with are thus fleeting or bizarre or otherwise things that only happen momentarily or in possibilities.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games features numerous Odd Job Gods as regular encounters and occasionally boss fights. Special mention goes out to ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', with Kanbari, the god of toilets. ''Devil Summoner: VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'' has more than a few of its own; early on, you get cursed with bad luck, and are assaulted by Binbou-gami, the god of poverty, who takes the form of a man hanging upside-down from a cloud raining coins from his shirt. Most of his attacks involve giant coins landing on top of you, too. Other strange gods include the above-mentioned Pele and fellow Hawaiian deity Kamapua'a (a hog-man), and Taoist god [[MegaNeko Neko Shogun]].

** There's also a major case of ComboPlatterPowers in the case of the Water Dragon who, in addition to her obvious dominion over rivers, rainfall etc., also happens to be in charge of [[{{Psychopomp}} the cycle of death and reincarnation]].

* The citizens of Santa Destroy in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' recognize gods of each side job in the game, so you have gods of coconuts, cats, garbage, steak and scorpions, the last of which can apparently be slain by killing scorpions.

* In ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' there is a separate [[TheGrimReaper Death]] for every way anybody has ever died, including such infrequent events as death by choking on a giant frog and death by being ground by a Mars rover rock abrasion tool. The less-likely Deaths are desperate for promotion.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has Giggles, god of slapstick. He's worshiped exclusively by a tribe of orcs on a small island, and was made up by [[TheDitz Elan]]. Who is the world's only worshiper of Banjo, god of puppets. Although they're officially brothers, so Banjo may enter the orcish pantheon as well. (The orcs were actually Banjo worshippers initially, but Giggles was a better fit for their spiritual needs.)

* On This Very Wiki we have the Pantheon/TropePantheons. Where else can you find a [[Series/PushingDaisies god of pies]], a [[Manga/{{Genshiken}} goddess of cosplay]], and two dueling entities of horror under one roof?

* In ''Fanfic/OneThousandTearzOrDeth'' (a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fanfic... you can see where this is going), there's a talking tree who is the patron demon of the [[EmoTeen emos]].
* ''Sverd Shelgr,'' an ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' webcomic that seems to no longer exist on the internet, featured a recurring character who was the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Urgal]] [[https://sverd.fandom.com/wiki/God_of_Bunnies,_Flowers_and_Miscellaneous_Soft_Pillows God of Bunnies, Flowers and Miscellaneous Soft Pillows]]. He was temporarily kicked out of the pantheon for being lame, then allowed back in when he started [[BewareTheNiceOnes smiting non-believers.]]
* In ''The Endless Pantheon'', a ''Literature/DresdenFiles''/''Series/StargateSG1'' FusionFic, Harry is at first bemused to learn his pantheon includes deities ruling domains such as dance, beer, and weaving. It's explained that this plays a vital role in reducing conflict within pantheons. Not only does separating domains prevent friction over who governs certain aspects of life, it also prevents casual murder of one's fellow gods as they're the only ones who know how to run a vital industry.

* In ''{{Webcomic/Snowflame}}'', our protagonist worships the goddess of cocaine.

* ''Webcomic/TheGodsOfArrKelaan'' has Ronson, the god of apathy and beer, as well as Shadowscared, god of being afraid. Despite this, Ronson is the head of the traveler pantheon.

* Played with in [[http://partiallyclips.com/2002/12/27/canoe-in-storm/ this]] ''Partially Clips'' strip.
* ''Webcomic/MountainTime'' has [[http://mountaincomics.com/2011/10/27/mountain-time-307/ The God of Good Posture]]: good at standing, and proud of it.
* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Red Mage says that if they're lucky, they'll deal with what he calls "the wussy demons," meaning "The usual stuff: pain, darkness, anger..." When Black Mage asks what he thinks the "Hardcore," demons are, he replies "demons relating to urine or bad haircuts." While Black Mage is obviously skeptical, [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/06/26/episode-1009-demon-stration/ Red Mage proves him wrong.]]
* Squid Fairy from ''Webcomic/ImminentMoose'' has the power to grant any wish... as long as it pertains to squids.
* ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'' featured a ''lot'' of oddball deities. In one story, a goddess of [[ThePeepingTom peeping toms]] appeared. (Who was, ironically, very often the victim of them.)

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has Giggles, god of slapstick. He's worshiped exclusively by a tribe of orcs on a small island, and was made up by [[TheDitz Elan]]. Who is the world's only worshiper of Banjo, god of puppets. Although they're officially brothers, so Banjo may enter the orcish pantheon as well.
** They were actually Banjo worshippers initially, but Giggles was a better fit for their spiritual needs.

* ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'' featured a ''lot'' of oddball deities. In one story, a goddess of [[ThePeepingTom peeping toms appeared. (Who was, ironically, very often the victim of them.)

[[folder:Roleplays]]
* ''Roleplay/EmbersInTheDusk'' features the Aetheric Concordat, a RagtagBunchOfMisfits who are all minor Warp gods. Such as Zahhak, the goddess of the idea that evil is a choice, Zaeed, the god of mercenaries, and Faust, the goddess of friendship. There is also a god of cooks, of last stands (A DeadEndJob with LegacyImmortality)...

** There was a goddess named Trivia, who was the goddess of the place where three paths meet; she had so few followers and was considered so unimportant that "trivia" or "trivium" came to mean useless things.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} of Creator/AAPessimal, nobody, especially in Ankh-Morpork, believes in Justice very much. not any more. Diké, Goddess of Justice, is on her way to small god status. Then a [[LesYay special interest group]] latches onto her and decides a Goddess with that name is too good to waste. Diké is all in favour of this, as stumbling around in a blindfold and a long dress with a sword in one hand and a set of scales in the other was no fun at all. Becoming Goddess of Alternate Female Gender-Expression means she can ditch the sword ''and'' she gets to wear more interesting clothes ''and'' meet more interesting people than bloody lawyersD. Although - Diké [[BerserkButton is pronounced with TWO syllables, right?]]

* In ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', Son Wukong (who regularly trounces the gods in hand-to-hand combat) gets the job of Celestial Stable Boy to placate his ambitions, but that just ends up kicking off an even worse RageAgainstTheHeavens. (It does end up being a useful item in his resume later on, though, as all horses, regular and supernatural, hold him in awe as a result.)

** In ''[[TabletopGames/ForgottenRealms The Forgotten Realms]]'':

** Saint Isidore of Seville, patron saint of TheInternet.
** Ava, saint of children learning to walk
** Saint Lawrence of Rome is, among other things, the patron saint of cooks. This attribution is due to the fact that [[BlackComedy he was martyred by being roasted alive]]. He's also the patron saint of comedians, as he supposedly joked during his execution, "[[GallowsHumor Turn me over, I'm done on this side!]]" A more mundane explanation of his patronage of comedians is that, while serving as a deacon in Rome, he would entertain house guests by reading from his vast collection of joke books.