Line #57 Main/GodIsNeutral


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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7	->''"Believe me, I ''was'' hands-on -- real hands-on for, ''wow'', ages. I was so sure if I kept stepping in, teaching, punishing, that these beautiful creatures that I created... would grow up. But it only stayed the same. And I saw that I needed to step away, and let my baby find its way."''
8	-->-- '''{{God}}''', ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', "[[Recap/SupernaturalS11E21AllInTheFamily All in the Family]]"
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10	God is usually thought of being [[GodIsGood good]]. Sometimes He's [[GodIsEvil evil]], [[GodIsFlawed flawed]] or [[JerkassGods just a jerk]]. Sometimes, however, the setting's representation of God is generally hands off, ''equally'' unconcerned with raining fire on blasphemers or blessing the faithful, preferring to not show favoritism and just let the world do its thing. Not necessarily absent, but people probably ''think'' so, given how little God does... that they know of.
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12	Maybe God's duties are more important than overseeing the petty minutiae of humans being humans, such as preventing the destruction of the earth by [[CosmicHorrorStory outside forces beyond human comprehension]]. Perhaps He's {{above good and evil}}, and doesn't find morality that important, or has to be neutral in order to [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil maintain the balance]]. Perhaps He has [[BlueAndOrangeMorality a sense of morality so alien to us mortals]] that He can't be considered truly benevolent or malevolent by any reasonable stretch. Perhaps He has decided to just sit back and watch for entertainment and finds interfering to be "cheating". On the other side, perhaps He would like to help but decided that HelpingWouldBeKillStealing.
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14	Compare AllPowerfulBystander, where a being with god-like powers (but not necessarily God or a god) doesn't bother using their powers to interfere, though they may have more pressing cosmic concerns than interfering in humanity. Compare TheGodsMustBeLazy, where the Gods don't oppose their evil counterpart actively; and GodsHandsAreTied, where the god(s) are actually unable to do anything. Contrast both GodIsGood and GodIsEvil, where God has a clear morality and intention for humanity.
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18	!!Examples
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
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22	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
23	* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'':
24	** [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]] are required to be TrueNeutral and never interfere in events, only serve as attendants to their DestroyerDeity. The only times Whis is seen interfering is to be a martial arts teacher to Goku and Vegeta, help with their problems once in a blue moon, or pre-emptively stop a god's plan to kill and usurp another god.
25	** Zen'o is the child-like TopGod of the multiverse, and who the other gods report to. Outside of occasionally interfering in what the other gods are doing, his only real job is to serve as the TopGod. This, combined with nobody being able to relate to him [[TheDreaded out of fear of his power]] is why he feels LonelyAtTheTop and why he likes Goku [[WhatsUpKingDude since Goku treats him informally]]. The one time he did anything for the multiverse he's watching over was [[spoiler:[[CurbStompBattle clean house]] when Zamasu had become a reality-consuming EldritchAbomination and started spreading to other universes and timelines]].
26	[[/folder]]
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28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': The Living Tribunal is the most powerful CosmicEntity short of [[TopGod The One Above All]], but he refuses to meddle with the constant cosmic wars and CrisisCrossover Earth's heroes have to deal with, only regarding threats to the entirety of TheMultiverse worth his attention. When the cosmic entities requested his help against Thanos in ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', the Living Tribunal stated he isn't concerned with helping due to it only being one universe, and it simply meant a change of their hierarchy to him.
30	[[/folder]]
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32	[[folder:Film]]
33	* ''Film/GodsOfEgypt'': Specifically, Ra, who leaves his children to handle the day to day management of humanity. He himself spends his days ''dragging the sun'' around to ''create'' "day" while his nights are spent fighting [[EldritchAbomination Apophis, the World Eater]].
34	* ''Film/{{Noah}}'' sees the antagonist Tubal-Cain desperately search for a response from God, with no response in sight. He also seems quite content to allow innocents to die in the flood. Noah sees this as confirmation that the man's evil has become so ubiquitous that God wishes for mankind to go extinct. [[spoiler:The climax comes when Noah realizes that God was leaving humanity to choose his own fate, and once Noah decides to allow his grandson to live, God sets the flood aside and blesses the remaining humans with a beautiful rainbow.]]
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37	[[folder:Literature]]
38	* ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'': Taken to the extreme with Azathoth, the Blind Idiot God. The most powerful Outer God of them all, Azathoth is not only completely uninterested with reality but completely oblivious that it, [[AlmightyIdiot or anything at all exists]]. He mainly exists in the center of infinity, created reality without noticing it and will inevitably destroy it with the same lack of care.
39	* ''Literature/GoodOmens'' is on the face of it about the Final Showdown between Good and Evil as foretold in ''Literature/TheBible'', but as re-envisioned by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/NeilGaiman. Heaven and Hell are the major players. Heaven claims that they are serving God, and Hell claims that they are fighting against him, but no one has actually spoken to Him in a very long time and even the Metatron can only speculate about God's goals. It's implied that God secretly manipulates everyone, humans, angels and even demons included as part of basically a game of 'very complicated Solitaire' that He's playing - and that he's not intersted in Heaven's victory over hell, and more in [[HumansAreSpecial free will of humans]] and the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil.
40	* In the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series book ''...and Eternity'', the Incarnation of God is neutral to the rest of Creation, not because he doesn't care, but because he is so enamored by the perfection of his image that he can't stop looking at himself. This becomes so bad that when the other Incarnations select another (actually three individuals) to become the Incarnation of Good, he doesn't even notice he's lost the title.
41	* ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'': The three Gods who sustain the universe act according to their divine affinities rather than human morality. Nahadoth, god of Chaos and Darkness, is a creature of passion, both [[ThePowerOfLove positive]] and [[ThePowerOfHate negative]]. Itempas, god of Order and Light, values stability, whether it's TheGoodKing or a brutal totalitarian theocracy. Enefa, goddess of Life and Death, loves her creations like a mother, but kills them when they've served their purpose all the same. "Good" and "Evil" don't factor into it, which is what makes them neutral.
42	* ''Literature/WatershipDown'' details lapine theology: that Frith the sun made the world and all the creatures in it. Only when rabbits developed explosive breeding did Frith "adjust" things so that predators came into being to decimate the rabbits. This is enforced when Hazel beseeches Frith's help in saving his warren, offering his life as payment, and Frith responds: "There can be no bargain, for what is is what must be." In effect, Frith tells Hazel to EarnYourHappyEnding.
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45	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
46	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': God abandoned Heaven and the rest of creation shortly after building the universe, to the point that he didn't even intervene when the Angels released Lucifer and ignited the Apocalypse in his name; when he finally does return to deal with the fight against [[TheAntiGod his opposite Amara]], he explains that he thought being a "helicopter parent" was detrimental to his children. [[spoiler:However, it's revealed even later to be a bald-faced lie: God never stopped influencing reality, he's just become better at hiding it. Also, [[GodIsEvil he's evil]].]]
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49	[[folder:Myth and Religion]]
50	* The general belief of ''UsefulNotes/{{Deism}}'': God created the universe, but is merely a passive observer and isn't interested in being in charge of it.
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53	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
54	* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' has a lot of [[CharacterAlignment neutral-aligned]] deities, but two in particular are standouts.
55	** Ao the Overgod, the TopGod of the setting, exists only to be the (generally hands-off) boss of the other gods. He actively discourages mortal worship and, unlike the rest of the pantheon, [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly doesn't require it in order to live]].
56	** Jergal, the Realms' original god of the dead, is canonically LawfulNeutral and voluntarily gave up most of his portfolio to the epic-level evil adventurers Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, choosing to simply be the archivist of death. He's more tolerant of TheUndead than his current boss [[DontFearTheReaper Kelemvor]], on the grounds that his more devout followers sometimes embrace [[OurLichesAreDifferent lichdom]] in order to have more time to chronicle death.
57	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The Monad is less a being than an ancient design that touches upon and is reflected in all corners of existence. It is intrinsically without form, operating almost exclusively through the host of aeons for which it is the guiding force, originating spirit, and nexus of thought. It might possibly the most powerful entity in the multiverse, but it's mostly concerned in mantaining balance at a cosmic scale rather then smaller-scale issues like other deities. The Monad boasts no temples and counts few followers and it's not even clear if the Monad is even aware of its devotees.
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60	[[folder:Video Games]]
61	* In the ending of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' where Kotal Kahn wins and becomes the new Lord of Time after gaining [[TimeMaster Kronika's power over time]], he becomes this. While in their endings most characters [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong attempt to use the power over time to create what they see as a better timeline]], (whether just for themselves and/or their loved ones, or their race, or their world, etc.) Kotal believes that attempting to change the past, even for what seems to be a better history, is wrong, and refuses to do so. Furthermore he says that many come to him pleading for him to act, but he turns them all down and sends them away.
62	-->'''Kotal Kahn:''' Our lives are cloth, woven by choice and circumstance. Pull even one thread, and the cloth is torn asunder and made worthless. Now that I am tasked with keeping time, others beg me to have their histories rewritten. But as long as the Hourglass is mine, I will not shape destiny in any one being's favor. History will play out as determined by its players. Let the sands fall where they may.
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65	[[folder:Webcomics]]
66	* Pickle Inspector of ''WebComic/ProblemSleuth'' uses his imagination in the Dream World to ascend as Godhead Pickle Inspector. He obtains limitless power, but it comes at the cost of only being able to "Fondly regard creation", a few minor actions related to the latter and once taking action to ensure his creation is intact enough to regard it.
67	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GodIsNeutral