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* PlayingBothSides: It is revealed that [[spoiler:Bliquis]] was doing this, until [[spoiler:the death of Zorya Vechernyaya pushes her]] to join Wednesday's side.



* RunningGag: Once Mad Sweeney accidentally gives his lucky coin away to Shadow, just about every scene he's in involves him being humiliated, injured or inconvenienced.

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* RunningGag: Once Mad Sweeney accidentally gives his lucky coin away to Shadow, just about every scene he's in involves him being humiliated, injured or inconvenienced. Justified because the farther he is from his coin, the more misfortune befalls him.



* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: The Coming to America prologue shows, among other things, the vikings' first contact with American Natives. It begins and ends with one of the vikings being peppered with arrows. ''Many'' arrows. When he finally drops dead, there's not a square inch on his silhouette without at least one arrow embedded in it. To top it off: [[ImprobableAimingSkills not a single shot missed]]. The vikings are suitably freaked out by their comrade's gruesome fate and wisely decide to steer clear of the forest where the murderous bombardment came from.

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* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: The Coming "Coming to America America" prologue shows, among other things, the vikings' first contact with American Natives. It begins and ends with one of the vikings being peppered with arrows. ''Many'' arrows. When he finally drops dead, there's not a square inch on his silhouette without at least one arrow embedded in it. To top it off: [[ImprobableAimingSkills not a single shot missed]]. The vikings are suitably freaked out by their comrade's gruesome fate and wisely decide to steer clear of the forest where the murderous bombardment came from.from.
* TeamSwitzerland: The Bookkeeper -- the The AnthropomorphicPersonification of money -- refuses to ally with either the Old Gods or the New Gods in their upcoming war, as there is little opportunity in choosing one over the other.


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* ModernizedGod: The Roman god Vulcan, god of fire and blacksmithing, refashioned himself as a god of firearms to capitalize on the American obsession with guns as a source of worship and power.

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* ModernizedGod: ModernizedGod:
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The Roman god Vulcan, god of fire and blacksmithing, refashioned himself as a god of firearms to capitalize on the American obsession with guns as a source of worship and power.power.
** Mama-ji, commonly known as Kali, sustains herself by working as a waitress in a chain of diners.

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* {{Foreshadowing}}: It took the Vikings to make war in order to summon Odin's favor.

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* {{Foreshadowing}}: {{Foreshadowing}}:
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It took the Vikings to make war in order to summon Odin's favor.



** Mad Sweeney panics at the sight of [[spoiler:the three banshees]], since he knows they are [[spoiler:a harbinger of his death]].



* TheHecateSisters: The three Slavic sisters all named Zorya are an elderly crone, a middle-aged woman and a virginal youth.

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* TheHecateSisters: TheHecateSisters:
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The three Slavic sisters all named Zorya are an elderly crone, a middle-aged woman and a virginal youth.youth.
** In "Treasure of the Sun", the three banshees follow this pattern.

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** Technical Boy takes over this role after [[spoiler:Media is reformed into New Media]].



* ExcrementStatement: After [[spoiler:pushing Vulcan's decapitated corpse into the smelting vat]], Mr. Wednesday proceeds to piss into the vat, saying that he is laying down a curse on the bullets that are being made from it.

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* ExcrementStatement: ExcrementStatement:
**
After [[spoiler:pushing Vulcan's decapitated corpse into the smelting vat]], Mr. Wednesday proceeds to piss into the vat, saying that he is laying down a curse on the bullets that are being made from it.it.
** Played with in Season 2, when Mr. Wednesday pisses onto the sprout of Yggdrasil to induce it to grow into its full size.
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*** "Treasure of the Sun" is another one for Mad Sweeny, covering his origins and [[spoiler:his wife and child]].
** "Donar the Great" is this for [[spoiler:Wednesday's son, Donar/Thor]].

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** The (admittedly big) novel will receive this, with a planned 3 or 4 seasons based on it, and maybe more if the sequel comes out.

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** The (admittedly big) novel will receive this, with a planned 3 three or 4 four seasons based on it, and maybe more if the sequel comes out.


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** The entire second season is original to the television adaptation, covering new events and characters not in the novel, along with additional background to established characters.
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The show's still going on, and in the book, Shadow eventually learns the "trick" to the hoard. We probably haven't seen the last of Gungnir.


* AllForNothing: Much of Season 2 is spent on [[spoiler:Wednesday's quest to restore his legendary war spear Gungnir to its old glory. He succeeds, but before he can get any use out of it, Mad Sweeney spirits it away to the Sun's Treasure[[note]]an obscure place only he can access; it's where he summons his endless supply of gold coins from[[/note]] as a final "fuck you" to Wednesday before he dies, thus removing the weapon from Wednesday's grasp forever.]]

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* AllForNothing: Much of Season 2 is spent on [[spoiler:Wednesday's quest to restore his legendary war spear Gungnir to its old glory. He succeeds, but before he can get any use out of it, Mad Sweeney spirits it away to the Sun's Treasure[[note]]an obscure place only he can access; it's where he summons his endless supply of gold coins from[[/note]] as a final "fuck you" to Wednesday before he dies, thus removing the weapon from Wednesday's grasp forever.grasp.]]
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* AllForNothing: Much of Season 2 is spent on [[spoiler:Wednesday's quest to restore his legendary war spear Gungnir to its old glory. He succeeds, but before he can get any use out of it, Mad Sweeney spirits it away to the Sun's Treasure[[note]]an obscure place only he can access; it's where he summons his endless supply of gold coins from[[/note]] as a final "fuck you" to Wednesday before he dies, thus removing the weapon from Wednesday's grasp forever.]]
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* BlackAndNerdy: Thoth, although he doesn't consider himself black, that being a concept that postdates him.
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** Czernobog despises Wednesday but lets him and Shadow spend the night because Zorya Vechernyaya already invited them to stay. Wednesday also brings Czernobog traditional gifts of bread and cheese. When Czernobog accepts the gifts, he officially acknowledges that Wednesday and Shadow are his guests as well.

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** Czernobog despises Wednesday but lets him and Shadow spend the night because Zorya Vechernyaya already invited them to stay. Wednesday also brings Czernobog traditional gifts of bread and cheese. When Czernobog cheese, and when he accepts the gifts, he officially acknowledges that Wednesday and Shadow are his guests as well.
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--> '''Zorya Vechernyaya:''' You no die of cancer.

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--> '''Zorya Vechernyaya:''' [[DamnedByFaintPraise You no die of cancer.]]
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** According to Wednesday, this is one of his main issues with the New Gods; namely they are “all take and no give” in regards to their followers. The Old Gods might just be as cruel and uncaring of humanity but at least ‘’they’’ actually gave blessings and gifts for the worship they received.

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** According to Wednesday, this is one of his main issues with the New Gods; namely they are “all take and no give” in regards to their followers. The Old Gods might just be as cruel and uncaring of humanity but at least ‘’they’’ ''they'' actually gave blessings and gifts for the worship they received.



* LiteralMetaphor: Laura says that Shadow is the light of her life. [[spoiler:What she means is that, after her revival, she sees a golden aura surrounding Shadow that lets her always know where he is. In addition, when she kisses him, her heart starts beating briefly, implying that being near Shadow allows her to truly live again.]]

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* LiteralMetaphor: Laura says that Shadow is the light of her life. [[spoiler:What [[spoiler: What she means is that, after her revival, she sees a golden aura surrounding Shadow that lets her always know where he is. In addition, when she kisses him, her heart starts beating briefly, implying that being near Shadow allows her to truly live again.]]

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* AbortedArc: The first season ends with Osterra (Easter) joining with Wednesday and [[spoiler:taking back spring, killing plants for miles around, if not across the country]]. In Season 2, her absence is handwaved away as her being annoyed with Wednesday for running over her rabbits, and her actions are not referenced again.

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* AbortedArc: AbortedArc:
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The first season ends with Osterra (Easter) joining with Wednesday and [[spoiler:taking back spring, killing plants for miles around, if not across the country]]. In Season 2, her absence is handwaved away as her being annoyed with Wednesday for running over her rabbits, and her actions are not referenced again.again.
** The sword that Vulcan forges for Wednesday appears to be forgotten in Season 2, with Wednesday focusing instead on reforging and repairing Gungnir.
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''American Gods'' is a TV series based on a [[Literature/AmericanGods novel]] by Creator/NeilGaiman. It was developed by Creator/BryanFuller and Michael Green for Creator/{{Starz}}, and premiered on April 30, 2017. The first season adapts the first third of the book, following Shadow Moon (portrayed by Ricky Whittle) and Mr. Wednesday (Creator/IanMcShane) on their journey across America. The show expands on the book by giving more spotlight to some of the book's supporting characters, including Laura Moon (Creator/EmilyBrowning), Mad Sweeney (Creator/PabloSchreiber) and Bilquis (Yetide Badaki), as well as the antagonists like Technical Boy (Bruce Langley) and Media (Creator/GillianAnderson).

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''American Gods'' is a TV series based on a [[Literature/AmericanGods novel]] by Creator/NeilGaiman. It was developed by Creator/BryanFuller and Michael Green for Creator/{{Starz}}, and premiered on April 30, 2017. The first season adapts the first third of the book, following Shadow Moon (portrayed by Ricky Whittle) Creator/RickyWhittle) and Mr. Wednesday (Creator/IanMcShane) on their journey across America. The show expands on the book by giving more spotlight to some of the book's supporting characters, including Laura Moon (Creator/EmilyBrowning), Mad Sweeney (Creator/PabloSchreiber) and Bilquis (Yetide Badaki), as well as the antagonists like Technical Boy (Bruce Langley) and Media (Creator/GillianAnderson).
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* AbortedArc: The first season ends with Osterra (Easter) joining with Wednesday and [[spoiler:taking back spring, killing plants for miles around, if not across the country]]. In Season 2, her absence is handwaved away as her being annoyed with Wednesday for running over her rabbits, and her actions are not referenced again.
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* TheStrongman: Donar (Thor) worked as a professional strongman for his father's burlesque troupe in the 1930s, later to be hired by the Friends of New Germany as their weight-lifting champion.
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* SettingUpdate: A couple changes to the book are the result of the more than 15 years passing between its publication and the show starting, and the changes that would have resulted to the New Gods.
** In the book, the Technical Boy is fat and pimply, with a black trenchcoat, meant to depict the image of a nerd as a basement-dwelling loser. In the TV series, however, he's thinner, with fancy clothes and hair and vapes, reflecting the more current "hipster douche" stereotype.
** And in Season 2, Media is updated to be [[spoiler:New Media, changing from the goddess of old TV shows, movies and musicians to a younger-looking goddess of Facebook and Instagram]].
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* OrgyOfEvidence: Shadow and Wednesday are arrested for a robbery they committed in a previous episode. The police detective has them dead to rights but is worried because the evidence is primarily satellite photos of the crime in progress. The technology used is state-of-the-art and is what governments use to track terrorist masterminds. She wants to know why someone with access to top secret surveillance satellites would use it to track two small time crooks. She is right to be worried since the source of the evidence was [[spoiler: Mr. World who had Wednesday arrested so he could offer him a deal that would prevent the coming war between the Old Gods and the New Gods. All the cops are massacred by Mr. Wood so there are no witnesses to the meeting.]]

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* OrgyOfEvidence: Shadow and Wednesday are arrested for a robbery they committed in a previous episode. The police detective has them dead to rights but is worried because the evidence is primarily satellite photos of the crime in progress. The technology used is state-of-the-art and is what governments use to track terrorist masterminds. She wants to know why someone with access to top secret surveillance satellites would use it to track two small time small-time crooks. She is right to be worried since the source of the evidence was [[spoiler: Mr. World World, who had Wednesday arrested so he could offer him a deal that would prevent the coming war between the Old Gods and the New Gods. All the cops are massacred by Mr. Wood so there are no witnesses to the meeting.]]



* ReadingTeaLeaves: [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly With the lack of worshippers in America keeping them strong and prosperous]], what remains of the [[Myth/SlavicMythology Slavic Gods]] in have resorted to doing odd jobs to get by. The Zorya sisters gain their living through fortune-telling, practicing tasseomancy using Turkish coffee as their medium. Zorya Vechernyaya insists on reading Shadow and Mr. Wednesday's fortunes when she agrees to let them into their house. Shadow's fortune is implied to be so horrible that even she can't properly lie about it.

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* ReadingTeaLeaves: [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly With the lack of worshippers in America keeping them strong and prosperous]], what remains of the [[Myth/SlavicMythology Slavic Gods]] in have resorted to doing odd jobs to get by. The Zorya sisters gain their living through fortune-telling, practicing tasseomancy using Turkish coffee as their medium. Zorya Vechernyaya insists on reading Shadow and Mr. Wednesday's fortunes when she agrees to let them into their house. Shadow's fortune is implied to be so horrible that even she can't properly lie about it.
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* ReadingTeaLeaves: [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly With the lack of worshippers in America keeping them strong and prosperous]], what remains of the [[Myth/SlavicMythology Slavic Gods]] in have resorted to doing odd jobs to get by. The Zorya sisters gain their living through fortune-telling, practicing tasseomancy using Turkish coffee as their medium. Zorya Vechernyaya insists on reading Shadow and Mr. Wednesday's fortunes when she agrees to let them into their house. Shadow's fortune is implied to be so horrible that even she can't properly lie about it.
--> '''Shadow:''' Thought you were supposed to read tea-leaves.
--> '''Zorya Vechernyaya:''' Tea is disgusting. [''Zorya Utrennyaya glimpses Shadow's fortune. Shows it to Vechernyaya.'']
--> '''Shadow:''' So what does it say?
--> '''Zorya Vechernyaya:''' [[BlatantLies ...you will have long life and a happy one with many children.]]
--> '''Shadow:''' That bad, huh? Any good news?
--> '''Zorya Vechernyaya:''' Your mother die of cancer?
--> '''Shadow:''' Yeah.
--> '''Zorya Vechernyaya:''' You no die of cancer.

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* FlatEarthAtheist: Laura doesn't give up her atheism even after seeing several gods, insisting they're not really divine but just created by humans (which is [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly sort of the case]]). God singular, meanwhile, is not seen (but multiple forms of Jesus are) and it's him she most insists isn't a real being.



* FullFrontalAssault: Bilquis is repeatedly naked on screen, as are her worshippers regardless of gender.

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* FullFrontalAssault: Bilquis is repeatedly naked on screen, as are her worshippers worshipers regardless of gender.



* HollywoodAtheist: Laura, who didn't believe in God or an afterlife, and was depressed with her life despite her having Shadow (whom she cheated on while he was in prison). After she dies, Anubis claims she "believed in nothing". This is because she actively ''refused'' to believe in anything, not love, not her husband, not anything.
** In contrast, Shadow is a more evenhanded portrayal of atheism. He believes in plenty of things, but is skeptical of gods and the supernatural.

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* HollywoodAtheist: Laura, who didn't believe in God or an afterlife, and was depressed with her life despite her having Shadow (whom she cheated on while he was in prison). After she dies, Anubis claims she "believed in nothing". This is because she actively ''refused'' to believe in anything, not love, not her husband, not anything.
**
anything. In contrast, Shadow is a more evenhanded portrayal of atheism. He believes in plenty of things, but is skeptical of gods and the supernatural.
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Adding a trope

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* BadassBoast: From the least likely of characters
->You think you can ghost in my machine? I am mankind's greatest achievement. I am the compass rose. I am fucking binary. Without me, shit don't spin.
--> '''Technical Boy'''
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* TakeThat: The [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic self-appointed border patrol thugs]] murder several devoutly Christian Mexican migrants...along with ''Mexican Jesus''. Which obviously symbolizes that their hate of illegal immigrants is far stronger than their supposed Christian values.

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* TakeThat: The [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic self-appointed border patrol thugs]] murder several devoutly Christian Mexican migrants... along with ''Mexican Jesus''. Which obviously symbolizes that their hate of illegal immigrants is far stronger than their supposed Christian values.
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Bryan Fuller and Michael Green exited the show after the first season due to arguing with Starz about the budget. Their replacement was for Season 2 was Jesse Alexander. Charles “Chic” Eglee will be the show runner for Season Three.

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Bryan Fuller and Michael Green exited the show after the first season due to arguing with Starz about the budget. Their replacement was for Season 2 was Jesse Alexander. Charles “Chic” Eglee will be the show runner for Season Three.
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Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have exited the show due to arguing with Starz about the budget. Their replacement is Jesse Alexander.

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Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have exited the show after the first season due to arguing with Starz about the budget. Their replacement is was for Season 2 was Jesse Alexander.
Alexander. Charles “Chic” Eglee will be the show runner for Season Three.

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* CategoryTraitor: Mr. Wood was an ancient, animistic tree god. Instead of allowing his belief to die out entirely with the incoming industrialization of the world, he sacrificed his forests and joined the New Gods. He now operates under Mr. World's authority, killing the police officers that arrested Shadow and Mr. Wednesday and then attacking Shadow.

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* CategoryTraitor: CategoryTraitor:
**
Mr. Wood was an ancient, animistic tree god. Instead of allowing his belief to die out entirely with the incoming industrialization of the world, he sacrificed his forests and joined the New Gods. He now operates under Mr. World's authority, killing the police officers that arrested Shadow and Mr. Wednesday and then attacking Shadow.
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* ModernizedGod: The Roman god Vulcan, god of fire and blacksmithing, refashioned himself as a god of firearms to capitalize on the American obsession with guns as a source of worship and power.
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** Laura Moon has, compared to the book, almost switched personalities with Shadow. In the book he was amiable, quiet, and almost "not there" in how he could fade into the background, whereas Laura was bright, full of life and had a sparkling personality that would make friends immediately with almost anyone. In the show the situation is practically reversed - Shadow is sociable, outgoing and proactive, whereas Laura is world weary and bored of life to the point of dallying with self-harming and nearly committing suicide, just to feel something.
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* CastingGag:
** In the commentary video for "Lemon Scented You," the producers said they wanted someone "Creator/CrispinGlover-esque" for the part of Mr World. Glover arrived at the breakfast meeting in a velvet suit and derby, and the way he greeted them was used for Mr. World's arrival in the interrogation room.
** Once again in a Bryan Fuller show, Kristin Chenoweth's character interacts with a [[spoiler: dark-haired dead girl brought back to life.]]
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** Czernobog despises Wednesday but lets him and Shadow spend the night because Zorya Vechernyaya already invited them to stay.

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** Czernobog despises Wednesday but lets him and Shadow spend the night because Zorya Vechernyaya already invited them to stay. Wednesday also brings Czernobog traditional gifts of bread and cheese. When Czernobog accepts the gifts, he officially acknowledges that Wednesday and Shadow are his guests as well.

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