History Main / PhysicalReligion

* There's one based around each of the princesses in ''[[FanFic/TheNonBronyverse TD the Alicorn Princess]]''. TD is extremely uncomfortable when he finds out that one has sprung up around him after his ascension.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has a pair of goddesses (and their ShrineMaiden) who are trying to spread their worship in the mystical land of Gensokyo because GodsNeedPrayerBadly. Backstory also shows that several other Shinto gods also existed.

* VideoGame/GenshinImpact: Each of the seven nations of Teyvat worship an Archon of a specific element, and it's hard to deny their existence, as aside from Barbatos, they regularly appear and give guidance to the people. Interestingly, each nation shown so far also approach the concept of worship differently. Mondstadt has a Church to Barbatos, Liyue has an annual ritual where Rex Lapis would descend from the heavens, the Raiden Shogun literally lives in the capital, Kusanali presides over the Akademiya and Furina has nominal rule over the Court of Fontaine.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''WebComic/GunnerkriggCourt'' the people of the titular Court are largely irreligious, since it's not that difficult for them to meet divine beings face to face, which kind of takes the edge off religion. The Native American TricksterGod Coyote has moved to Gillitie Forest, right next door to the Court, and in one chapter the moon goddess Chang'e briefly visits them with minimal fanfare to complain about the giant fingerprint that the protagonist accidentally left on Moon's surface (Coyote was involved).

* ''WebCOmic/SluggyFreelance''

* VideoGame/GenshinImpact: Each of the seven nations of Teyvat worship an Archon of a specific element, and it's hard to deny their existence, as aside from Barbatos, they regularly appear and give guidance to the people. Interestingly, each nation shown so far also approach the concept of worship differently. Mondstadt has a Church to Barbatos, Liyue has an annual ritual where Rex Lapis would descend from the heavens, the Raiden Shogun literally lives in the capital, and Kusanali presides over the Akademiya.

*** It's worth pointing out that he technically ISN'T a god, because this is what he himself says, as he is an atheist, which was the basis of the Imperium. The only reason people think he's a god, is because of the primarch of one of the key traitor legions, Lorgar Aurelian, creating the Lectitio Divinitatus about the Emperor. Thus, ironically, the Imperial Cult is based on the creation of the traitors the Imperium is fighting against.

* An interesting example is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama Dalai Lama]] The Dalai Lama is believed to be a reincarnated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulku tulku,]] which is a custodian of a specific tradition of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism. Each tulkus is itself incarnation of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara Avalokiteśvara]] a boddhisattva, basically a person who has achieved buddhahood to a degree of becoming a type of god.

* This was the case in ancient Mesopotamia (at least from the perspective of its people). No one, as far as we know, seriously doubted the existence of the gods: after all, you could just go to the temple and see them there, residing in an ordinary if extravagant house in the form of a statue. Those idols were clothed, bathed and served three meals a day (cynical Assyriologists tend to ask who ''actually'' ate the food prepared for the god). Hell, they even went to visit friends and relatives at their temples for festivals and such. Moreover, Mesopotamians expected to be able to communicate directly with their gods: make a sacrifice and the god's answer to your question would, without fail, appear in omens, most usually on the liver of the sacrificial animal. Again, it does not seem as if anyone ever doubted the efficacy of those omens in all the texts that have come down to us: if something didn't go as predicted, clearly the interpretation had been mistaken.
** Part of this is due to the surviving sources. In ancient times, those who were fully literate tended to be a priests of some sort. If any skeptics or non-believers existed, they may not have had the opportunity, or the inclination, to write it down.

* In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'', the Tayledras, Shin'a'in and K'Leshya, collectively known as the Kaled'a'in, are called as such because they worship the Star-eyed goddess Kal'enel, who routinely provides divine intervention of the kind that cannot be mistaken for anything else, as well as being able to communicate with her devotees in 'the moonpaths'. Also in the Valdemas world is the god Vkandis, worshiped by the Karsites [[spoiler:and the Iftellians]] who actually sent a lightening bolt to vaporize a false Son of the Sun (like their pope) who wasn't abiding by his doctrines, choosing a new one himself through a statue of him, even going so far as to prove it wasn't a trick by removing the crown which was a permanent, non-removable part of the statue and placing it on the new Son of the Sun and putting the statue back, crownless.

* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': After Third Impact the new ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Chaos Gods]]'' [[spoiler:-- Shinji, Asuka, Rei and Misato --]] rule and are worshipped by the whole humankind. Not only they are very present -- granting boons and gifts to their followers and trying to guide and protect humanity -- but also they rebuilt the planet AfterTheEnd, have introduced and spread new technologies and are preparing the united forces of humankind for a space war.

* In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'', the Tayledras, Shin'a'in and K'Leshya, collectively known as the Kaled'a'in, are called as such because they worship the Star-eyed goddess Kal'enel, who routinely provides divine intervention of the kind that cannot be mistaken for anything else, as well as being able to communicate with her devotees in 'the moonpaths'. Also in the Valdemas world is the god Vkandis, worshiped by the Karsites [[spoiler: and the Iftellians]] who actually sent a lightening bolt to vaporize a false Son of the Sun (like their pope) who wasn't abiding by his doctrines, choosing a new one himself through a statue of him, even going so far as to prove it wasn't a trick by removing the crown which was a permanent, non-removable part of the statue and placing it on the new Son of the Sun and putting the statue back, crownless.

* Creator/PhilipKDick's ''A Maze of Death'' has a prophet [[ReligionIsRight foresee that God's real]] and some years later be proven correct. Three "manifestations" of God [[spoiler: or possibly four]] are adressees of prayers (that need to be electronically enhanced to reach the godly planets), and one (The Walker on Earth) can be met, well, walking the Earth and giving advice. One of the characters is a FlatEarthAtheist who thinks people just interpret any helpful stranger as Walker on Earth.

* The cosmology of the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' universe has three PhysicalGods holding three of the original Lord Souls, and at least one of them became a functional GodEmperor [[spoiler: and, after succumbing to the Undead Curse, the FinalBoss]]. A small order of warriors continue to worship the Dragons of ages past, despite them all [[spoiler: [[LastOfHisKind well, almost all]]]] being dead. Strangely enough, there also exists a very non-physical religion that worships Velka, the Goddess of Sin, who [[WildMassGuessing debatably]] is absent within the actual game.
* In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', the powers that gods grant their priests are undeniably real. Occasionally the gods even deign to speak directly to mortals and there are places built specifically for such communion. [[spoiler: However, it turns out the gods were not always real. Indeed, the ancient Engwithans built the gods out of ideals to fill that void and bring order to the chaos. Before them there were thousands of different beliefs, many of them heinous and barbaric.]]

* An interesting example is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama Dalai Lama]] The Dalai Lama is believed to be a reincarnated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulku tulku]], which is a custodian of a specific tradition of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism. Each tulkus is itself incarnation of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara Avalokiteśvara]] a boddhisattva, basically a person who has achieved buddhahood to a degree of becoming a type of god.

** The exception to "VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} didn't used to be like this" is the trolls and the Pandaren. These races have always worshipped the loa or celestials (many fans think they are the same thing, though there is some disagreement). These beings have always been physically present in the world, or at least able to be so. Indeed, trolls have been known to not only worship the loa, but also to control them and even kill them. GodsNeedPrayerDesperately is part of this, as loa who are prayed to can sometimes come back from death (as with Hakkar the Soulflayer, and several other loa). Also, they can empower worshippers even after death. To be completely fair, the Pandaren do not actually worship the celestials (who don't exactly want worship). Their temples rather seem to be for the purpose of countering the Sha curse. They have a Zen Buddhism like religion which does not center on a deity.

** Some groups who worship Daedra use this as their justification. The other deities, the Aedra, are more classical creator deities, but are rather aloof and indirect in how they affect the mortal plane, to the point that one could reasonably ask if they're actually there. The Daedra are a related but distinct group who vary massively in alignment with plenty of [[JerkassGenie Jerkass Genies]] and outright demonic characters among their line-up, but at least they actually ''do stuff''. Heck, you can go to one of their shrines, perform the right ritual, and talk to them in person! [[DealWithTheDevil Then get cast into Coldharbour to be tortured for eternity...]]

If someone still refuses to believe despite the fact that the object of the religion is directly observable, they're a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, they are a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Them. They may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if They are bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a physical religion ''and'' openly rules their worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy, but, even when a real and observable person, a God Emperor isn't necessarily a real god. GiantAnimalWorship can be considered a subtrope, though, again, their object of worship isn't necessarily "actually" divine or even sapient. If the worship is directed at ancestors rather than a deity, it is AncestorVeneration.

If someone still refuses to believe despite the fact that the object of the religion is directly observable, they're a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, they are a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Them. They may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if They are bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor who is a real god usually has both a physical religion ''and'' openly rules their worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy. GiantAnimalWorship can be considered a subtrope, though their object of worship isn't necessarily "actually" divine or even sapient. If the worship is directed at ancestors rather than a deity, it is AncestorVeneration.

If someone still refuses to believe despite the fact that the object of the religion is directly observable, they're a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, they are a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Them. They may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if They are bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a physical religion ''and'' openly rules their worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy. GiantAnimalWorship can be considered a subtrope, though their object of worship isn't necessarily "actually" divine or even sapient. If the worship is directed at ancestors rather than a deity, it is AncestorVeneration.

If someone still refuses to believe despite the fact that the object of the religion is directly observable, they're a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, they are a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Them. They may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if They are bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a physical religion ''and'' openly rules their worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy. GiantAnimalWorship can be considered a subtrope, though their object of worship isn't necessarily "actually" divine or even sapient.

* Franchise/TheDCU -- particularly the likes of ''Comicbook/{{Lucifer}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' and ''Comicbook/TheSandman''. Gods are quite real... and they might be waiting to cause hell for the protagonist -- or, just to peacefully chat. Whichever.
* There are many real gods in the ''DCU'' outside of Creator/{{Vertigo|Comics}}-based series. For example, the ComicBook/NewGods are quite prominent ones, most notably '''ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}''' for '''Darkseid Is'''.

[[folder:Mythology And Religion]]
* Religions tend to describe their "Mythological Age" as this, their Holy Scriptures describing a time where the divine PowersThatBe freely interacted with mortals.
[[/folder]]

* [[Administrivia/RuleofCautiousEditingJudgment While we obviously won't go into specifics]], All religions describe their "Mythological Age" as this, their Holy Scriptures describing a time where the divine PowersThatBe freely interacted with mortals.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' utilizes this trope, as there are gods, religions worshipping these gods, {{Nay Theist}}s, {{Flat Earth Atheist}}s, and cults worshiping [[HaveYouSeenMyGod gods that are MIA]], usually because their followers started to believe in the religion more than the god, [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly causing the god to disappear]].

If someone still refuses to believe despite the fact that the object of the religion is directly observable, they're a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, they are a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Them. They may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if They are bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a PhysicalReligion ''and'' openly rules their worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy. GiantAnimalWorship can be considered a subtrope, though their object of worship isn't necessarily "actually" divine or even sapient.

* An interesting variation in ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'', where there was a PhysicalReligion, until the BanOnMagic was instituted and, because [[ReligionIsMagic the Old Religion]] counted, it became forbidden to practice it. Thus, we have Samhain, where everyone knows that the veil between life and death is thinning, but no-one is worshiping the gods or doing anything religious. Basically, it exists but everyone is ignoring it.

* Averted so far in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' with the royal princesses. Celestia and Luna raise the sun and the moon respectively and ponies are rather prone to falling all over themselves in awe (and/or terror) when either shows up in person -- yet, in over two and a half seasons no such thing as a formal pony religion has as much as been shown to exist, let alone defined to any degree. It's a hundred percent clear that they see Celestia as divine, what with "Thank Celestia," "For Celestia's sake," "Sweet Celestia," and "As Celestia is my witness" (multiple counts of some of those.) Luna gets a bit less love due to her thousand-year banishment. (She used to be their ''devil,'' with their Halloween equivalent being all about warding off her evil alter-ego, Nightmare Moon. The world seems to have forgiven her so far, but not quite to an "As Luna is my witness" level of love.) However, phrases like that don't quite make a religion. Possibly ''because'' of their formal leadership - no need to devote a lot of time and energy to the interpretation of a book ''some'' believe to have been inspired by them millennia ago, or messages ''one'' person ''says'' s/he received in his/her heart in the middle of the night or whatnot.

If someone still refuses to believe despite the fact that the object of the religion is directly observable, they're a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, they are a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Them. They may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if They are bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a PhysicalReligion ''and'' openly rules their worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy.

** The exception to "{{Warcraft}} didn't used to be like this" is the trolls and the Pandaren. These races have always worshipped the loa or celestials (many fans think they are the same thing, though there is some disagreement). These beings have always been physically present in the world, or at least able to be so. Indeed, trolls have been known to not only worship the loa, but also to control them and even kill them. GodsNeedPrayerDesperately is part of this, as loa who are prayed to can sometimes come back from death (as with Hakkar the Soulflayer, and several other loa). Also, they can empower worshippers even after death. To be completely fair, the Pandaren do not actually worship the celestials (who don't exactly want worship). Their temples rather seem to be for the purpose of countering the Sha curse. They have a Zen Buddhism like religion which does not center on a deity.

* In ''Literature/TheRecordOfUnusualCreatures'', since gods exist and often involve themselves in their universes, often running administrative works or overseeing and dealing with disasters, religions naturally appears. Raven 12345 has one, the Goddess of Creation Rheia has one as well.

** Elune, moon goddess of the night elves, is the longest lasting object of faith that, while clearly having performed miracles, made no physical appearances.