Line #3 Main/FantasyCounterpartReligion


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/TheOrville https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sin_ttulo_18.png]]]]
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3	Some writers created fictional religions for their settings. Religious subjects in fiction are a sensitive issue. Targeting certain religious groups, and how it's done, may cause UnfortunateImplications or have the work BannedInChina, or induce an AudienceAlienatingPremise. The creator(s) often will wish to comment on real-world religion without directly commenting upon on them.
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5	They have various ways to get around this:
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7	# The work is located in an entirely fictional universe, thus no Earth religion could exist there. Examples: ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' and ''Franchise/StarWars''.
8	# The setting is so long ago (see MedievalPrehistory and IstanbulNotConstantinople) that any religions that existed there are already forgotten. Examples: ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.
9	# In ScienceFiction stories set in the far future, it is expected that religions have changed or have no followers and/or humanity has OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions as religious literalism. Or, on the opposite end, have adopted [[CargoCult new ones]]. Examples: ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' by Creator/FrankHerbert and ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''.
10	This trope is for in-universe ''mainstream'' religions. For religions that are considered cults in-universe, there's already {{Cult}}. Settings AfterTheEnd where trivial things from our culture are misidentified as sacred fall under AllHailTheGreatGodMickey. For specific counterparts to the Church of Scientology, check ChurchOfHappyology.
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12	A SubTrope of FantasyCounterpartCulture and SisterTrope to FantasyCounterpartMyth. May be involved in a FantasyConflictCounterpart. Compare with FictionalPoliticalParty for the political version. SuperTrope to CrystalDragonJesus (in which the religion is more or less a substitute for Christianity), FantasyPantheon (for a made-up polytheistic religion), InterfaithSmoothie (a fictional religion influenced by two or more from the real world).
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15	!!Examples:
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17	[[foldercontrol]]
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19	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
20	* ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'': The dominant religion in the setting is the worship of Dinosaurs, with many rituals being very Shinto-esque. Interestingly, Christmas canonically exists, but when its existence was actually relevant to the story (the climax of the final arc takes place on the 25th of December) it goes completely unmentioned and instead the holiday everyone is celebrating is "Rexmas".
21	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': The Ishvalan religion seems to be Crystal Dragon Islam. The Ishvalans have a vaguely Middle Eastern feel, and they are monotheists who worship a deity called Ishvalah, which sounds a lot like Allah (as well as Ishvar, the Sanskrit word for "god"). [[CultureChopSuey They are also heavily based on]] the Ainu people of Japan; the author has described them as essentially what would happen if the indigenous Ainu settled in a Middle Eastern environment.
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24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* ''ComicBook/LadyDeath'': Maklu is a religious figure that vaguely resembles a demonic Buddha and he is worshiped across [[TheUnderworld the Labyrinth]] by both humans and demons. Though not much is known about him and his religion, it's presumed he is a benevolent being despite his hellish visage, with some of his ardent followers such as [[LadyOfBlackMagic Satasha]] serving as companions to TheHeroine. The look of the demonic Buddha is very similar to that of RealLife Tantric Buddhist and Hindu deities.
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28	[[folder:Fan Works]]
29	* In ''Fanfic/ChasingDragons'', the Faith of the Seven continues to serve as a counterpart to Christianity. Following the various schisms, the main (Baelorite) branch is more clearly based on Catholicism, with the Jonothorians being a counterpart to Lutheranism, the Rymanists being a counterpart to Calvinism, and the Old Faith being a counterpart to Presbyterianism/Puritanism.
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32	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
33	* The Jedi aesthetic and motifs in ''Franchise/StarWars'' are based on aspects of UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} and UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}:
34	** The Jedi believe that one must surrender anger and negative thoughts and note that the Dark Side is driven by those negative attitudes. A true Jedi must not be driven by passion and emotion but rather surrender one's drives and desires. This resembles parts of Buddhism namely its identification of desire as one of the great sources of strife. It however differs in that Buddha's recommendation was moderation and not full and total repression which is what the Jedi actually encourage, and which leads to Anakin Skywalker's conversion to the Dark Side.
35	** The structure of the Jedi Order resembles many monastic traditions, from those of Christianity to Buddhist and Taoist orders, including the requirement of celibacy (Jedi can't marry or have children, nor fall in love). The Force, in so far as it is a non-anthropomorphic godless cosmic force, likewise reflects Eastern beliefs (similar concept of the Chinese Chi and Hindu Prana). The ins and outs of "Forceism" can be found in detail [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Force here]]. It is notable that this did not start out this way, as the Jedi and their traditions were a relatively undeveloped backstory element to the plot of the original trilogy, but expanded over time into its present form as successive movies and materials expanded upon the nature of the Jedi, the Sith, and the Force.
36	** The Prequel trilogy adds Christian elements in the figure of Anakin Skywalker - a prophesied [[TheChosenOne savior figure]] [[MysticalPregnancy conceived without a human father.]]
37	* The Orcish religion in ''Film/{{Bright}}'' is a mix of Christianity and European pagan faiths. They worship Jirak, an orc that united the free peoples and saved the world from the Dark Lord, while their priests dress themselves like Celtic druids.
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40	[[folder:Literature]]
41	* Nearly all {{Animal Religion}}s of ''Literature/TheKaturranOdyssey'' are technically forms of CrystalDragonJesus since the only deity proven to exist thus far is the Fossah. Still, the individual belief systems differ significantly from each other and closely resemble real-life religious practices:
42	** The religion of the lemurs of Bohibba follows traditional Malagasy practices closely, with CorruptChurch elements more closely akin to those seen in Christianity.
43	** The religion of the Patah is really vague, but they do consider the stars sacred and "true magic". Since their culture is based on Islam and Zoroastrianism it can be inferred that they are similarly monotheistic.
44	** The Boskiis are shamans, their complex rituals akin to those of Indonesian and Papuan religious paths.
45	** The Dourahn have generally Buddhist aesthetics, and once worshiped a pantheon of gods, but now have discarded those in favor of self and ancestor worship.
46	* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
47	** Many of the Valar -- the god/archangel-type figures who rule over the world -- are inspired by the gods of Myth/ClassicalMythology. Yavanna, the creator of plant and animal life and referred to as "Queen of the Earth", is inspired by harvest and earth goddesses such as Gaea and Demeter; Aulë the Smith, the lord of metal and craft, is reminiscent of the smith-god Hephaestus; Ulmo, the fearsome and temperamental ruler of the seas, is inspired by Poseidon; Namó, the grim and unyielding ruler of the afterlife, draws inspiration from Hades, while his realm (a place of dreariness and waiting) is not unlike the Greek underworld. There is also the addition of a form of reincarnation -- it is possible for deceased elves to be reincarnated, and indeed a few characters in the books are reborn in this manner. Valar worship is practiced by Elves and Men. Still, in keeping with Tolkien's Catholic beliefs, there is one creator on top of everything who fits the Abrahamic conception of God-Eru Iluvatar. The Maiar and Valar are something akin to angels. This includes having fallen ones like Morgoth and Sauron.
48	** The Dwarves worship only their creator god Aulë: thus, they are monotheistic (or technically henotheistic, as they do not deny the existence of other gods). This is one of various other links supporting the theory that the Dwarves were based on the Jews.
49	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/BlindAlley": The Emperor believes in a philosophy created by Aurelion. The context of the statements implies that it is a religion (one of the characters describes it as a cult). Those that wish to help the aliens on "humanitarian" grounds are all believers in the religion.
50	* Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/JanetAsimov's ''Literature/TheNorbyChronicles'': The Wells brothers are Solarists, which involves meditations on the belief that everything in the world (more accurately, everything everywhere) is connected. They have a religious observance that is supposed to happen at sunrise on the Equinox, but their attempt to do so in the first book is disrupted when they’re attacked by terrorists. Aside from those two points, religion doesn't impact the story.
51	* Creator/FrankHerbert's ''Literature/{{Dune}}'':
52	** The Bene Gesserit are a mysterious order of powerful women who develop strong mental abilities for years of discipline and practice. Their leaders are called Reverend Mothers and seems to be extremely influential in the Empire. As such it has certain similarities with the Catholic Church (to be specific, he derived it partly from the Jesuit Order), but also has similarities with some female Pagan orders like the Vestals, and of course, they are called witches by their detractors.
53	** The Fremen of Dune's worship of the Muad'Dib has many similarities with Islam in its first centuries, as it has a messianic figure for a desert-dwelling tribal people.
54	** It should however be noticed that the Dune novels also establish that many modern religions survive into the time 25,000 years in the future in which the events of the novels happen, but in most cases, they are mixed. For instance, you have faiths like Buddislam (Zensufis, Zenshiites, Zensunnis) and Mahayana Christianity. The aforementioned Fremen are Buddislamic, with belief in both a single god and reincarnation, since the religions merged. It's said a Second and Third Islamic movement preceded Buddislam that grew more mystical and unified the two faiths.
55	* Fordism in Aldous Huxley's ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'', the cult and worship of Henry Ford. Huxley was trying to do a commentary on extreme capitalism and what would be a too radically hedonistic society. Some commentators have found similarities between Fordism and Creator/AynRand's {{UsefulNotes/Objectivism}}.
56	* Creator/HPLovecraft's fiction abounds with strange gods and creatures, an entirely fictive cosmos whose deities are merely advanced alien and/or interdimensional beings who cannot be understood by human minds.
57	** Lovecraft did admit in a letter that he saw what he described as his "Yog-Sothothery" (which fans call the Franchise/CthulhuMythos) as a "parody religion" and aspects, ''Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu'' was based on Roman-era MysteryCult, as well as Pre-Christian Mesopotamian beings like Dagon and Baal (the former being adopted for one of his beings). Likewise, the revival of Cthulhu has been seen as a take on the Antichrist.
58	** Nyarlathothep is a SatanicArchetype being a more worldly being who incarnates in human form, is usually dressed in black and unlike other elder beings who are indifferent to humanity, delights in inflicting cruelty on humans.
59	** Some have seen occult influences, for instance, Yog-Sothoth's description as a being composed in lights and spheres is seen to be a reference to UsefulNotes/{{Kabbalah}} and the Tree-of-Life.
60	* Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', enjoys taking aspects of real-life religion and making [[DecompositeCharacter decomposites of them]]:
61	** The Faith of the Seven is [[CrystalDragonJesus Westeros' version]] of the organized Christian Church, being that it has institutions organizing a common doctrine, regulating practices of priests, complete with monasteries and nunneries (called Septries) with a High Septon being elected by high-ranking Septons. Its doctrine with one god in seven aspects is an elaboration of the Holy Trinity. However, the Faith lacks many other features familiar from the history of the Catholic Church or Christianity overall, namely a Christ figure and a PassionPlay on which the religion is built, as well as a veneration of saints. Likewise, in terms of how the Church is directly under control of the Crown, it is significantly weaker than the Church was in the Middle Ages. In this aspect, it may be more akin to the relationship between some Orthodox churches and the Church of England with their respective states (probably the latter especially, since Westeros mirrors Britain).
62	** The Old Gods, praised by the Children of the Forest and the First Men before the Andals brought the Faith of the Seven from Essos and still worshiped in the North in a somewhat syncretic fashion. This religion is clearly based on pre-Christian European paganism and frequently invokes shades of various druidic and pagan faiths of pre-Christian Europe, as well as other animist religions such as worship of trees on which faces are carved and a past that includes human sacrifice.
63	** The worship of R'hllor, which comes from outside the Seven Kingdoms, is stated by the author to be based on Zoroastrianism and Catharism, and indeed bears a common ground with those religions in being dualistic, worshiping a god of light in an active struggle against a god of darkness. It even has the focus on fire, typical of Zoroastrianism. In practice, however, [[http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/post/54660099013/meta-monday-the-religion it is diametrically opposed to these religions' principles]], and more closely resembles a parody of zealous Abrahamic religions, especially polemic allegations against Christian heresies such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borborites Borborites]].
64	** Mother Rhoyne, still worshiped by the remaining Rhoynar: a MotherGoddess of nurture and nature, clearly based on the matriarchal prehistoric Mother Goddess cults theorized in the early-to-mid 20th century and which newer neopagan religions worship.
65	** The Drowned God, worshiped in the Iron Islands, seems similar to Norse god Odin who is also known as the Hanged God because he hanged for nine days of the [[WorldTree Yggdrassil]]. No surprise in that the Ironborns are the FantasyCounterpartCulture of the Vikings. It's also inspired by Christianity in that the Drowned God is a dead-and-resurrected God,[[note]]Although dead-and-resurrected may also apply to Odin and other Pagan deities[[/note]] and the religion emphasizes identification and emulation of the Drowned God's ordeal, and the fact that baptism, or dunking beneath the water, is a major part of their religious practice. Other parts of the religion, and the Iron Islands on the whole, is more or less a kind of Lovecraft-inspired cult.
66	** The Faceless Men worship Death itself, named the Many-Faced God. Similar to several death-worshiping cults of Asia like UsefulNotes/TheHashshashin and the Indian Thugs. However, those were a part of Islam and Hinduism respectively. The Faceless Men are explicitly syncretic, seeing all gods as simply aspects of theirs, and this is reflected in their temple, which holds the statues of many major deities.
67	* The Esperathian Church of Anticipation in ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'' is based heavily on Catholicism, down to its own self-governed HolyCity and UsefulNotes/ThePope. Their dogma is based on anticipating the second coming of TheMaker and the subsequent final judgement. There is also the Ollarian splinter church, which is based on Anglicanism and is headed by the king of Talig (instead of the Pope), who also appoints its bishops.
68	* ''Literature/TheElenium'' and ''Literature/TheTamuli'':
69	** The Elene church is a Catholic substitute. There is no direct proxy for Jesus himself, though. With no Jesus proxy around, Creator/DavidEddings is thereby free to parody dogma by making the Elene Church [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a massively complex and encroaching institution worshiping an aloof and distant sort of god]]. One of the other, more interventionist gods actually [[{{Anvilicious}} complains about the fact that the Elene God is a crotchety old bugger obsessed with making up rules]]. Mind you, that's the worst thing she has to say about him, and they seem to have a decent working relationship. The religious hatred among their human followers was the followers' own idea.
70	** The Eshandist Heresy, an early offshoot of Eleneism, is located in a region that is reflective of the Arab region, and its leaders are compared in an unsavory way to Islamic prophets.
71	** On the neighboring continent, an offshoot of Eleneism is similar to Orthodoxy in its requirement for the higher priesthood to be drawn from monastic clergy and its rejection of the western Elene Church's leader's primacy over the church.
72	** The Styrics have many common traits with Jews: largely without a homeland, persecuted and frequently slaughtered by Elenes for no very good reason, plus they eschew eating pork. However, their actual theology is polytheistic, and their relationship with their gods is more personal than that of Judaism.
73	* The ''Literature/QuintaglioAscension'' trilogy features a species of intelligent Tyrannosaurs who worship a planet as "The Face of God", discovered by the Prophet Larsk (whose descendants are the imperial rulers of their people), which they make a ritual pilgrimage to view. In some ways, it's more like a fantasy Islam: the prophet, the secular rulers staking their claims to power through relation with him, and pilgrimages. However, it has a clergy that seems more like Catholic Christianity, although they are portrayed as pretty corrupt (they are the only Quintaglios able to lie, for instance). However, they also have the bloodpriests who kill seven out of eight hatchlings to keep the population under control, which has no real counterpart in either religion (although many cultures have practiced infanticide, just usually not ritually). The discovery that the Face of God is ''merely'' a planet explicitly parallels Galileo. In addition, there's a religion that exists underground at first which was the dominant one before worshiping the "Five Original Hunters" with a prophesied savior known as "The One". Both religions worship a Goddess that created all things, sacrificed parts of herself to create the Quintaglios, and has Sacred Scrolls as their scripture.
74	* ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'': Whereas Mitra is the most worshiped god among the "civilized" Hyborian nations, other deities include:
75	** Crom for the Cimmerians, which has some Irish/Celtic influences. He is not the only Cimmerian god, as Conan also occasionally swears by other gods like Morrigan, Dadga, and Macha.
76	** Ymir is the TopGod for the Aesir and Vanir tribes representing the Nordic people. Ironically, he is a CompositeCharacter of Odin and Ymir the Frost Giant that was slain in the creation of the world in Norse mythology.
77	** Being based on Ancient Egypt, Stygia also reveres similar gods like Set (who serves as GreaterScopeVillain for this setting) who shares the same name as the Egyptian god but is closer to Apophis, TheAntiGod in Egyptian mythology and also represented by snakes.
78	** Shamanism and ancestor worship is practiced by the Hyrkanians, much like the Central Asian Mongolic tribes.
79	** There is a Hyborian version of Hinduism that teaches about the system of karma and reincarnation, the difference is that its central god is known as Asura, and it's practiced primarily by the Vendhyans (i.e. Hyborian Indians).
80	** The Shemites revere pagan deities reminiscent of the non-Hebrew Semitic deities from Canaan.
81	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' has often being accused of associating the Calormene religion (whose god Tash serves as the setting's SatanicArchetype) with Islam since its people have heavy Arabic/Turkish influences and borrows similar practices - for example, their ruler is styled Tisroc who descended directly from Tash, similar to historical caliphs who were regarded as successors to Muhammed and the spiritual leaders of all Muslims. However, the Calormen are actually [[http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Calormene_religion polytheistic]] unlike Muslims, who are strictly monotheistic and this is more in line with [[DeliberateValuesDissonance medieval perceptions of Islam]] or polytheistic faiths of pre-Islamic Arabia. Tash is also presented as a Satan analogue, which only furthers the dark implications, and it's said any good worshipers of his are really worshiping Aslan (or vice versa) since they are diametrically opposite in nature.
82	* ''Literature/HandsHeldInTheSnow'': The Church is very much a FantasyPantheon variation on the Catholic Church. They are a large semi-political organization that almost everyone follows, and priests take a VowOfCelibacy.
83	* ''Literature/TheColdMoons'' is a novel about badgers fleeing human extermination. It's based on actual badger cullings but is also heavy on Jewish imagery (especially the story of Moses). The [[AnimalReligion badger version]] of {{Hell}} is even outright called "Sheol".
84	* This is mixed with ReligionIsMagic in the ''Uncommon Magic'' series. Sagery, practicing magic as dictated by a pantheon of venerated sages, is Catholicism. Moshites are Jews in all but name, as they are an ostracized minority associated with "ugly" features like sharp noses and wavy dark hair.
85	* ''Literature/ThePrioryOfTheOrangeTree'' prominently features the Six Virtues, a blend of medieval Catholicism with the stories of King Arthur and St. George, as the primary religion of the European {{FantasyCounterpartCulture}}s, especially the England analogue of Inys.
86	* ''Literature/AMemoirByLadyTrent'':
87	** Segulism[[note]]from Hebrew ''Segol'', meaning "treasure" or "chosen people"[[/note]], a form of pseudo-Judaism, as the dominant religion. There are two branches, the Temple-worshippers (or Bayitists[[note]]from Bayit, Hebrew for "house", but can also mean Temple[[/note]]), who practice animal sacrifice and are centralized around a major Temple (like Judaism before 70 CE), and the Magisterial branch, which is based on Rabbinic Judaism. The Magisterials worship in "Meeting Houses" (a literal translation of synagogue), and the Bayitists in Tabernacles. Both sides also have missionaries called ''sheluhim''[[note]]Hebrew for "emissary"[[/note]].
88	** There's also Amaneen, an alt-Islam, though it seems to only be practiced in Akhia (alt-Arabia).
89	* In the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'', the Ice Warrior gods are based on the gods of ancient Egypt (or rather, in-universe, the ancient Egyptians and the Ice Warriors both worshiped SufficientlyAdvancedAliens called [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Osirians]]). Despite this, the Order of Oras (Horus) in ''Godengine'' is a rather Christianity-like faith, preaching peace and humility, and with a monastic structure (although mixed gender and without the celibacy). When the Doctor points out that the real Osirian Horus was arrogant and vengeful, and wouldn't have said any of the aphorisms the Order attribute to him, the Abbot replies that he knows that, but that doesn't make the aphorisms themselves wrong.
90	* ''Literature/KingdomsDisdain'': The Book of Law and Promises resembles The Bible.
91	* ''Literature/ToShapeADragonsBreath'': Due to the Norsmen being the major colonizers of Europe and Roman empire to spread Christianity (and in fact, no Greco-Roman history at all), the dominant faith of the Anglish is based on Norse Mythology. Anglish people invoke the names gods such as Joden, Fyra, and Enki, and annual festivals such as Jule, Valkyrjafax, and Fyrafax are based around their gods and the seasons. While other faiths exist—Zhina, of Kindah background, believes in one god with many prophets and doesn't eat pork or other unclean animals—the Norsmen superiorly believe their faith and its JustSoStories to be the most accurate and truthful ones.
92	* ''Literature/WatershipDown'' by Creator/RichardAdams: The rabbits worship Frith, who appears to be the closest thing they have to God. In addition, they also have El-ahrairah, an odd mix of Jesus Christ and Noah.
93	* In the DungeonPunk novel ''The Sleeping Dragon'' by Jonny Nexus, the main religion is the Church of the [=SkyFather=], which is a satire on modern Christianity, being more interested in PR than the existence or otherwise of the [=SkyFather=], and having a PedophilePriest scandal they're trying to downplay. The fact the main priest character actually ''believes'' means he's seen as an old-fashioned embarrassment. The desert lands to the south have the Church of the Sacred Box, the two brief references to which [[UnfortunateImplications rather unfortunately]] define it entirely by misogyny and terrorism.
94	* ''Literature/HiveMind2016'': Hiveism, the belief that the Hive as a gestalt is a divine force that guides people. It includes a belief in reincarnation, with people rejoining the Hive until being reborn into a newborn child or (in an alternate doctrine) becoming an inspiring spirit for someone going through Lottery. It is the only official religion in the Hive; other religions are considered non-conformist organizations, although not forbidden.
95	* There are many examples of this in books by Creator/GuyGavrielKay:
96	** Jaddites are analogues to Christians: they worship Jad, the sun god; they have sanctuaries and chapels and an organized clergy with monastic orders who generally do not marry; eventually there are two Jaddite Patriarchs – one in the west in Rhodias (Rome) and the other in the east in Byzantium (Constantinople); and they even have the "Heladikian heresy", a doctrine about the story of Jad's son Heladikos, whose worship is eventually outlawed by the Patriarchs.
97	** Asharites are stand-ins for Muslims: they worship the "stars of Ashar" and venerate Ashar himself, a mystic and prophet who left his home to wander in the desert before returning with the received wisdom of star-worship.
98	** Kindath are Jews, and worship the two moons (in the universe in which many of these books are set, there are two moons, one white and one blue) as sister goddesses. They're depicted as wanderers – though without a clear homeland or desire to return to it as in RealLife – and experience oppression at the hands of Asharites and Jaddites to varying degrees depending on place and time. A few times it seems they also venerate the stars but don't seem to worship them in the same way the Asharites do.
99	** In ''Lord of Emperors'', an analogue to Zoroastrianism is depicted in the Bassanid homeland of Rustam, a physician. We don't know much about religious practice, but the theology involves a cosmic battle between good and evil, with a goddess called Anahita (literally the name of an actual divine figure in Zoroastrianism, associated with healing, wisdom, and fertility) and a god called Perun (possibly an allusion to Varun, the "deliverer from evil"). Worship involves fire ceremonies.
100	** In ''Literature/UnderHeaven'' and ''River of Stars'' (set in a different world from the one in which we see Asharites, Kindath, and Jaddites), we see analogues to Confucian and Taoist philosophies, including ancestor veneration and filial piety. Allusians to pre-Islamic Turkic animism and shamanistic traditions are also present.
101	* ''Literature/{{Dragonvarld}}'': Unlike in Seth, the religion of Idlyswylde seems to be based on Medieval European Christianity, as God is mentioned to be worshiped. The poor view magic as demonic, with the educated believing it's fraud and superstition, which also reflects their common attitudes. Also they have a chivalric tradition, while holy pilgrimages are made sometimes to seek divine aid, practices that also existed among Christians of the era. Tonsured monks exist in Idylswylde, suicide is considered a mortal sin as with traditional Christian ethics, and people invoke Our Lady or Holy Mother like Mary too, along with the saints generally. Ermintrude even quotes from the ''Literature/BookOfEcclesiastes'' once. Satan is believed in also, and demons. When an army believed to be made up of demons is marching against them, people proclaim this is the Apocalypse.
102	* ''Literature/TheBookOfTheNewSun'': far future Urth follows a variety of religions developed from Catholicism that worship the Pantocrator (God the Father), the Conciliator (Jesus) and the Increate (the Holy Spirit). It is implied that the main character, Severian the Torturer, [[spoiler: ''is'' the Conciliator, thanks to a StableTimeLoop.]]
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105	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
106	* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
107	** Foundationism is a new religion among humans. Details of the religion are never given but what is known is that they consider that God is in all religions and that they take the best from each one. A particular ritual, taken from the Australian aboriginals, it's described as: the person, having discovered they have lost themselves, would leave everything and start walking and keep on walking until they (metaphorically) meet themselves. The person would then sit down and have a long talk with their "self", about everything they have learned and felt until they run out of words (the walkabout).
108	** The Narn have different religions but the most presented in detail is G'Kar's, who is a follower of the philosophist G'Quan, and it seems to be similar to Taoism. After himself writing a book, it starts a new religion despite his opposition to the idea (one follower nearly assassinated G'Kar when he spoke against this).
109	** The Minbari religion is based in pantheism and they have a belief in reincarnation similar to many Eastern religions (they're explicitly right-souls do exist that reincarnate).
110	** The Centauri religion is more of a pagan polytheistic religion with 50 official gods (and one unofficial based on a noble man who bought his way in the pantheon). This resembles the ancient Roman religion as the Centauri are essentially SpaceRomans, and like them it's mentioned they deify many past emperors.
111	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
112	** The Klingon religion: a warrior-based religion where honor and courage are quintessential and warriors are rewarded with an afterlife of glory fighting alongside their god Kahless in the halls of Sto-Vo-Kor. Obviously based on the [Hollywood version of] Norse religion, just change Kahless for Odin and Sto-Vo-Kor for Valhalla.
113	** The Bajoran religion: spiritual worship of the Prophets who are not gods, but (at least for the Bajorans) enlightened beings, with a well-organized religious hierarchy and a common leader. Probably a counterpart of Buddhism with Catholic-inspired clergy, plus a caste system in the past like Hinduism. Also, they have demonic beings called Pah-Wraiths who some worship as well, an idea very analogous to HollywoodSatanism.
114	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
115	** The Lord of Light, a fire deity whose followers insistently describe him as the "one true God" in opposition to an evil counterpart god, bears a strong resemblance to UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} and UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}}.
116	** The Ironborn's faith of the Drowned God, inspired by Scandinavian mythology, is a monotheist religion based on a god who died (drowned) but came back to life and is eternally at war with the satanic Storm God, similar to the Norse religion worship of Odin's death by hanging in the [[WorldTree Ygdrassil]], resurrection of the warriors after death and the war against chaos represented by the Ice Giants and other AlwaysChaoticEvil forces of the Cosmos. This resurrection is the basis for the Ironborn's creed "What is dead may never die," and their practice of baptism in sea water. They also believe that if they serve the Drowned God well (by keeping to the GoodOldWays of RapePillageAndBurn) they will be reborn into his halls beneath the sea after their death.
117	* ''Series/TheOrville'':
118	** The [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Krill]] religion, which is heavily based on Judeo-Christianity and Islam. Their temples look very similar to chapels and they have a holy book, and the idea that only Krills have souls is very similar to the concept in Abrahamic religions that only humans have souls. The fact that Krill are warrior-like, follow a single god (monotheism), and make chants very much similar to Allah'u'akbar is not very subtle in the message that ReligionIsWrong.
119	** The religion shown on the ship in "If the Stars Should Appear" seems to resemble Christianity, as they have a holy book and one creator god, along with the nastier aspects of certain historical Christian churches, such as a theocracy and Inquisition-like authorities.
120	* ''Series/CarnivalRow'': Burgish people follow a man called "the Martyr" who they frequently invoke (who's depicted as hanged) and seems pretty similar to Jesus. Faerie meanwhile have a "Saint Titania", who shares the name of a mythical fairy queen (plus the idea of saints may mean it's similar to Christianity as well). The place Ritter Longerbane is laid in state seems very much like a church, and there is organ music in the background too. Some of the Fauns also are part of a religious sect that engages in self-flagellation as the Medieval era saw. They have a holy book and provide charity for poorer members of their people in a manner akin to many churches too. In their case, it takes a darker turn as the sect turns out to be bent upon a violent anti-human revolt. Fauns also have their Haruspices, female clerics named for Roman ones who prophesied the future by examining animals' entrails, especially livers (which comes up in the series).
121	* ''Series/TheMandalorian'': The series makes many parallels between Mandalorian culture and religion and UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}. To wit: they are a coalition of diverse tribes driven out of ThePromisedLand and who suffered horribly under a totalitarian regime. The fact that they vary in their fidelity to the Way[[note]]a literal translation of "halakha" (Jewish law)[[/note]] reflects the different degrees Jewish groups follow things like Kosher Law: for Bo-Katan Kryze removing her helmet in front of others is an everyday occurrence, for Din Djarin it's sacrilege.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
125	* ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'':
126	** The Church of S'allumer is patterned after the medieval Catholic church, with some of the heterodoxies (and heresies) being directly named after real ones.
127	** Lutarism is based on a mix of Germanic and Celtic mythology combined with a bit of animism.
128	** The Phelan have druids.
129	** "Book of Horn and Ivory" introduces Malachism, an obvious parallel to Islam, and opposed to all forms of magic.
130	* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' the main Martian faith seems to resemble Hinduism or Buddhism. It has a reincarnation system built along caste lines with an end goal of ascending to heaven to be amongst the Ancients.
131	* ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'':
132	** The Church of Morrow is this setting [[CrystalDragonJesus analogue for Christianity]].
133	** The Thamarite cults are a weird blend of theistic and [=LaVeyan=] Satanism, with a vaguely-Objectivist moral philosophy, emphasis on magic, and worship of the Morrowans' Satan equivalent (and Morrow's twin sister).
134	** The Menites are more of an InterfaithSmoothie; they worship the creator of humanity, Menoth, exclusively, and are the religion that Morrowans grew out of, making their religion an obvious counterpart to Judaism (complete with being a persecuted minority in strongly-Morrowan Cygnar). They also have elements of the more sinister side of Catholicism (their Scrutator priest-judges are heavily inspired by the Inquisition, and they really like burning heretics), and in the Protectorate, they have elements of Islam (they even recently converted the Idrians, the setting's resident [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Arab equivalents]]) and possibly Mormonism (forming a new nation in the desert after the rise of a new prophet and violent conflict with America-equivalent Cygnar).
135	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' features lots of examples:
136	** The Cult of Sigmar is a [[CrystalDragonJesus Christianity analogue]] if Jesus was like Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian.
137	** The Chaos Gods are like [[GodOfEvil a more malevolent version]] of the Norse pantheon, including an Odin analogue being filled by Khorne promising a WarriorHeaven for his followers that fall in battle.
138	** The Nehekharan Gods are obviously based on the Egyptian pantheon with its similarly named gods Ptra (Ra) and Basth (Bastet).
139	** The Kislevite religion and the Great Orthodoxy are based on Slavic paganism and Orthodox Christianity.
140	** The Lizardmen worship Sotek, a snake-like deity akin to the Aztecs' Quetzacoatl.
141	** It's also implied that ''Warhammer'''s version of Islam is practiced by the nation of Araby, though other than being described as a monotheistic faith manifested by its chosen prophets, not much else is known about it. The equivalent of the Crusades happened when a daemon of Tzeentch tricked an Arabyan sultan into attacking the Empire, but little else is known about it.
142	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has a few of these:
143	** The faiths of Irori, Gruhastha, and Korada and the philosophy of Sangpotshi all have a strong Buddhist flavor.
144	** Tamashigo is basically Fantasy Shinto.
145	** The church of Sarenrae and the faith of Namzaruum both resemble Islam in different ways. The church of Sarenrae has mosque-like temple architecture, dervishes, calls to prayer, and even a Hashshashin-equivalent, as well as being a religion of fantasy Middle-Eastern origin that is currently international in scope, but most popular and influential in [[FantasyCounterpartCulture its world's versions of]] the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and south-eastern Europe. The cult of Namzaruum is more obscure both in-universe and out, but its ecclesiastical structure is headed by a caliph and its priests call themselves imams.
146	** The Yamabushi, hermit monk followers of the [[{{Wutai}} Tian Xia]] mountain god Yamatsumi, are named after, and inspired by, a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamabushi real Japanese ascetic tradition]].
147	* The Draconic religion in ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'' is Buddhism with serial numbers filed off. The draconewts and human converts seek the enlightened state of True Dragonhood through meditation and rebirth, and the True Dragons seek a state of oneness with the Cosmic Dragon Ouroboros, much like many Buddhist sects seek oneness with Vairocana Buddha.
148	* In ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'', most religions in Theah are monotheistic, worshipping a god named Theus and following the words of his Prophets. The dominant religion is the Vaticine Church, also known as the Church of the Prophets, which is Catholicism at its most crusadery (notably, they're based in the Spain-counterpart rather than Italy, with accompanying Inquisition). There are also the Objectionists, founded by Mattias Leiber, who likewise follow the three Prophets, but do not believe that the Vaticine Heriophant speaks for Theus, as the equivalent to Protestants. The Church of the Second Prophet in the Crescent Empire, which does not accept the third Prophet, is Islam. The Ussurran Orthodox Church of the Prophets is the Russian Orthodox Church. Non-Theus religions include druids in Avalon, an equivalent to the Norse pantheon in Vestenmannavnjar, and the Path of the Golden Soul in Cathay which believes in a cycle of rebirth in pursuit of inner peace, similar to Buddhism.
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Video Games]]
152	* There are two major religious and spiritual beliefs in the ''Franchise/{{Dishonored}}'' series:
153	** There is the Abbey of the Overseers which is a take on Christianity in its organized religion, based more on the Anglican Church than the Catholic Church, i.e. it is patronized and supported by the Crown and has simultaneous repressive and progressive aspects, i.e. a history of attacking dissenters, heretics, and persecuting magic users and witches (the latter of which was something Protestant Christianity did far more than the Catholics) while also patronizing and supporting science and using mathematics based devices in their activities similar to the Anglican Church which did support the Royal Society in the 1700s.
154	** Worship of the Outsider involves creating makeshift shrines made up of wood and other household parts and fashioning them in private and secret while collecting strange runes and charms in the hope for luck and fortune. This resembles Haitian Voudou religion in the creation of shrines and syncretic ritualism, as well as in the manner in which Outsider worshipers generally hide their faith in the privacy of their homes since it is an IllegalReligion by the state. Outsider worship is also associated with witchcraft and the occult similar to the Hollywood version of Voudou.
155	* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
156	** The Andrastrian Chantry is a fantasy version of the Catholic Church, except with a GenderFlip on the power dynamics with women at the center with Andraste, the martyr who founded it, its priestesses being required to be celibate, and a female leader known as The Divine. It also underwent an internal fracturing, with Tevinter having its own version of the Chantry with a male leader, rather like the split between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
157	** The Qun resembles Confucianism with its dedication to societal order above all else, and each member fulfilling a designated role in that society.
158	* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'': The main religion in the game has some resemblance to Christianity, but has some other religions as well: Zenus (the Almighty) saw that humanity was turning to evil, and decided to destroy them. His daughter managed to persuade him otherwise by turning herself into a WorldTree: she would only return to her true form if humans did enough good deeds (releasing benevolessence, gathered by the angelic Celestrians and returned to the tree). However, Zenus ends up split into various aspects (which become the higher-end grotto monsters).
159	* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' franchise, the [[CargoCult Church of the Children of Atom]] share a surprisingly high number of similarities to many ancient Egyptian cults (as highlighted [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/4jjric/fallout_radiation_children_of_atom_and_ancient/ here]]), most prominently those based around the worship of the creation god Atum.
160	* The practices of the Halonic Church of Ishgard in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' greatly resemble those of the medieval Catholic church. Although Halone is one of twelve acknowledged gods, devotion to one ''other'' than her is frowned upon. The state is a theocracy run by the Archbishop (who wears a pope-like miter) and religious precepts are enforced by the Inquisition, who use a number of tortures and other cruel and unusual measures to expose and punish heretics (although "heretics" here are "those aligned with dragons"). The Halonic Church also has many canonized Saints, mostly those who have committed heroic deeds in the ForeverWar against the dragon horde, but for humanitarian and faith-based reasons as well.
161	* The main religion of the Britain of ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}'' is a kind of monotheistic goddess worship presided over by priestesses. It seems to be a mix of real-world paganism with a monotheistic Christian aspect.
162	* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' world, some religions seem to worship Pokémon, typically powerful Legendaries. The [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries anime]] has a few Buddhist parallels early on, but the game religions don't really seem to be based on anything. However, there is a church-type building in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', where the people talk in a rather preachy manner too.
163	* The Kyrati religion in ''VideoGame/FarCry4'' shares a few traits with Dharmic religions and at the very least seems derived from Hinduism, which isn't surprising given it's located in the Indian sub-continent.
164	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' has the Church of Seiros, which, as one of the most powerful institutions on the continent of Fódlan, with its own army and the role of keeping the peace, bares more than a passing resemblance to the Vatican. It was founded and named for Saint Seiros, who claimed to have been given a revelation from the Goddess who was watching over Fódlan.
165	* ''VideoGame/{{Anbennar}}'': The Corinite faith is an odd example in that it ''very'' closely mirrors a real-world faith in terms of impact on the setting and relation to its origin while not being ''at all'' theologically similar -- it is a clear take on Protestantism in that it starts out as a reformist tendency within the dominant religion (the Regent Court) of the Europe-analogue (Cannor), this causes a schism, and the schism leads to a religious war in the Holy Roman Empire-analogue (the Empire of Anbennar) and the Corinite side ends up forming national churches instead of the more transnational organisation of its mother faith. In terms of theology, however, it is a polytheistic faith with occasional monolatric tendencies whose chief mundane charge against the Regent Court is insufficient militancy against evil and whose main theological divergences is advocating for a different successor to the TopGod position than the one the mainstream Regent Court adopts.
166	* Nurity, the main religion featured in ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'', is a monotheistic religion with traits inspired by both Christianity (the worship of Saints and Priests, the religion's founder being supported by a group of dedicated Disciples, the Eleven Pillars of Nurity being analogous to the Ten Commandments) and Islam (the religion's founder being a divine messenger with their encounter with God being similar to Muhammad's first revelation, the two major denominations being split on the topic of whether the teachings of the original founder's successor should also be considered of divine origin).
167	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' initially started out as directly using Christianity in [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI the first game]], but with ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', apparently started using a loose adaptation of Christianity for its CreationMyth, with the Golden Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore being a counterpart Holy Trinity and with structures such as the Sanctuary and later the Temple of Time clearly being Christian churches. By ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' however, this was then [[{{Revision}} revised]] into a closer counterpart of Shinto, with the Golden Goddesses being remembered but not directly worshipped, while actual worship is instead reserved for the lesser patron goddess [[GodOfGood Hylia]], who is established to be the ancestor of Hyrule's royal family. Hylia is also given a rival associated with storms named Demise in this revision.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Web Comics]]
171	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', a [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2003-09-17 mention]] is made of the beliefs of a [[HumanoidAliens Uryuom]] religion which like many real major world religions has a significant impact on the laws that get passed where it is widely practiced.
172	* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': The multiverse is clearly very heavily inspired by Hinduism, with a multitude of gods that are technically the same being, themes of balance and mirrored forces, and so on. At the same time, it is not actually attempting to ''be'' Hinduism. It does have a few Christian elements, with angels as upholders of the Law and devils as powerful tricksters that exist outside it.
173	* ''Webcomic/MarbleGateDungeon'': The faith of Solus the Highfather is essentially identical to Earth Christianity, down to having a Jesus-style figure known as the "Prime Martyr".
174	* ''Webcomic/{{unDivine}}'' gives us La Divinidad, basically a Spanish Carribean style quasi-Christianty.
175	[[/folder]]
176
177	[[folder:Web Original]]
178	* ''WebVideo/SMPEarth'': Braphogism, a religion following the deity Slam. It is best known for its odd fixation on [[PottyHumor fecal matter]]. It MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Western Animation]]
182	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': The First Amalgamated Church, the combination of all the mainstream world religions into one ála NewAge. It also features ''Robotology'', a religion specifically for robots which is the main focus of the episode "Hell Is Other Robots" and which is mostly a [[CrystalDragonJesus pastiche of Christianity with robot and machine terms sprinkled everywhere]]. Although they are never seen in full detail, Professor Farnsworth also mentions "Voodoo" and [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprahism]] as mainstream religions in the future.
183	** The Latino dub changed ''Oprahism'' for ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mercado Waltermercadismo]]''.
184	* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
185	** Aang from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is an interesting case. The concept of an "Avatar" is one taken from Hinduism and Buddhism, meaning a god who has taken mortal form. However, there are many separate philosophies across the world which seem to hold elements from other Asian, Pagan, and Native American belief systems. Specifically, the mythology of Aang as the Avatar is lifted directly from The Dalai Lama, down to reincarnation and being chosen at a young age by ancient toys and heirlooms from the previous Avatar's possessions. The creators even named him "Buddha Boy" as a working name before they came up with "Aang".
186	** In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', the ''Avatar''verse's cosmology is basically made into a blend of Shinto, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism: as with the previous series, [[NatureSpirit nature spirits]] are abundant, but the two most powerful ones are embodiments of light and darkness that are constantly fighting for control of the world. [[spoiler:And the Avatar is the light spirit's fusion with a human soul.]]
187	* In ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'', the Church of Alvis is what happens when one takes Jesus, has him be born in the American frontier, gets him drunk, and gives him guns. Other religions are mentioned that are more or less parallels to real-life religions (ex: "Alvis was himself a Kreb!" in a parallel of Jesus being Jewish). Reportedly, the writers of Sealab did want to use the real-life religions in the ChristmasEpisode "Feast of Alvis", but Standards and Practices wouldn't let them, so they made all these religions up instead...which arguably makes the episode funnier, and makes Murphy (the most ardent Alvian) look even more like a nutjob.
188	--->'''Sparks:''' Your "lord"? It's a ''baby with a freaking gun'', '''roasting over a flood light'''!
189	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FantasyCounterpartReligion