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These are gods that have decided to ally with neither Mr. Wednesday's faction of Old Gods nor Mr. World's faction of New Gods. This list also includes gods that only appear in flashbacks, and other mythological beings and figures who are not necessarily gods.
Season One
The Jinn
The Jinn / Ifrit
Portrayed By: Mousa Kraish
"If I could grant wishes, do you think I'd be driving a cab?"
A mythical being of fire, currently working as a cab driver.
- Badass Biker: Season 2 sees him riding around the US on a beautiful vintage motorbike with an attached sidecar for much of his screentime.
- Benevolent Genie: Despite his claim that he doesn't grant wishes, he does grant Salim his heart's desire: by swapping his and Salim's identities, Ifrit frees Salim from a life he found utterly miserable and gives him a chance to start anew.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: This guy is hung to the point of ridiculousness, and the sex scene with him and Salim early in Season 1 seems to literally transcend worlds.
- Fireball Eyeballs: His eyes appear to be on fire. He wears sunglasses to cover them up.
- Nay-Theist: The Jinn refuses to worship any of the gods he associates with, seeing Wednesday as an employer and having rejected an allegiance to Allah in favor of being demonized as a heretical spirit.
- Nice Guy: Of all the supernatural beings in his world, he's easily among the nicest ones. This doesn't mean that he's averse to swearing or the occasional moment of dickery, but he generally treats the whole cast, including the humans, with respect and often comes to the latter's defense when the other gods treat them like crap.
- Put on a Bus: Despite his Ascended Extra status in Season 2, he doesn't show up in season 3.
- Self-Deprecation: He isn't shy to admit that good decision-making isn't exactly his forte.Jinn: You know me. Eyes of fire, shit for brains.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He's dressed very nicely in the present, when he meets with Wednesday — he's still wearing Salim's suit. He then mostly averts it in Season 2 by switching to robust street clothing, which is much more practical when you're driving a Cool Bike in most of your scenes.
- Sunglasses at Night: He wears them to hide his Fireball Eyeballs.
Nunyunnini
Nunyunnini
- Animal Motif: He's represented by a mammoth skull. His worshippers, obviously, depended on mammoth to survive and when they migrated to America found little.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Nunyunnini tells his last priestess to sacrifice herself to the buffalo god so her tribe may survive, knowing this will mean he'll be forgotten and thus perish.
- Unperson: Nunyunnini dies after his last priestess sacrifices herself to a buffalo so the children of her tribe may be fed and adopted by the worshippers of the local tribe.
Virgin Mary
Virgin Mary
Portrayed By:
Jesus's mother. She appears taking care of Baby Jesus at Easter's party.- The Cameo: She only appears once in Easter's party.
- Heavenly Blue: She wears a blue robe, the staple of Virgin Mary's representations.
Jesus
Jesus
Portrayed By: Jeremy Davies (Prime Jesus), Ernesto Reyes (Mexican Jesus)
"I am belief. I don't know how not to believe."
The overly empathetic Son of God.
- Ascended Extra: He was only mentioned briefly in the book and appeared in an extra scene in the tenth anniversary edition (without it being explicitly stated who he was) but here he's a recurring character — albeit played by a different actor for each version of him.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Fittingly, Mexican Jesus ends up in this position when he dies. A bullet wound in his hand looks like one of the nails in the Crucifixion, and the blood stain from a shot to the chest forms the shape of the Sacred Heart. A tumbleweed also rolls over his head and leaves some twigs to look like the crown of thorns.
- Death by Irony: Mexican Jesus was killed by a militia of fanatic Christians for illegally crossing the Mexican border. But he gets better. Resurrection is kind of his thing, after all.
- Divine Race Lift: In-Universe. Because belief in Jesus is so prevalent in Christians of every race and denomination imaginable, there is a different version of Jesus for all of them than the more accurate ancient Levantine-Jewish Jesus, all of whom show up for Ostara's Easter party.
- Divine Intervention: Mexican Jesus is notably the only god seen so far who actually directly and readily intervenes for his followers with no profit for himself.
- Ethnic God: Interestingly, there are multiple Jesuses, one for each set of believers that Jesus has. Wednesday describes his incarnations primarily along ethnic lines, as various groups brought their own brand of Christianity to America, but as seen later, this is not limited to ethnicity, but to any interpretation of Jesus. In Easter's party there are quite a few Jesuses, some of the same ethnicities.
- Holy Halo: Several of him at Easter's party sport one.
- Jesus Was Way Cool: He's such a Nice Guy that even Easter, whose holiday was co-opted by Jesus himself, can't really think badly of him.
- Looks Like Jesus: It's easy to tell exactly who Mexican Jesus is from the moment one lays eyes on him. He even gives this a Lampshade Hanging.Mexican Jesus: You already know my name.
- Mathematician's Answer: Sort of a running joke is that people who encounter Him without introduction are compelled to remark that he seems very familiar, and ask if they know each other - at which Jesus just wryly responds "Yes".
- Me's a Crowd: A number of Jesuses are in attendance at Easter's party in "Come to Jesus".
- Nice Guy: Jesus exists as a martyr, so it's fitting he's the nicest of the gods so far. Unlike the other gods who demand sacrifice or attention, he just goes around helping people, sacrificing himself for them.
- Mexican Jesus saved a drowning man from the Rio Grande and died attempting to protect Mexican immigrants from a militia.
- Another Jesus at Easter's party comments that he feels bad that he's taking her worship. Easter notably never blames them for that, and clearly enjoys spending time with them.
- Older Than He Looks: One of the Jesuses in attendance at Easter's part in "Come to Jesus" is Baby Jesus, in the care of his mother Mary. As this is Jesus we're talking about, one has to imagine he's quite a lot older than a baby.
- The Other Darrin:
- In-Universe per Mr. Wednesday in "Head Full Of Snow":Mr. Wednesday: Why, you got your white Jesuit-style Jesus, you got your black African Jesus, you got your brown Mexican Jesus, you got your swarthy Greek Jesus.
Shadow: That's a lotta Jesus.
Mr. Wednesday: There's a lotta need for Jesus, so there's a lotta Jesus. - In a later episode, we get to see several Jesuses attending Easter's party.
- In-Universe per Mr. Wednesday in "Head Full Of Snow":
- Semi-Divine: Played with, as we don't know what the Jesuses' true nature is, and these may even vary depending on which denomination or culture spawned each Jesus. Wednesday refuses to call him a "god" as he and Ostara are.Ostara: How dare you. How dare you? How. Dare. You come into my home and... uncork all over Jesus of Nazareth! And all the other Jesuses who died on the cross and even the ones who didn't? HOW DARE YOU! These are kind, generous men and they've come to celebrate their day — my day — goddamnit, OUR DAY! And you come in here and disrespect them? They're gods for God's sake!Wednesday: [derisively] They're "sons of", they're men who walk the streets! They shake hands, they take shits!
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Jesus is currently one of the most powerful gods in existence in America, but he is remarkably uninvolved in Wednesday and Mr. World's brewing war.
- Walk on Water: Mexican Jesus does this to save one of his believers from drowning, while one of the White Jesuses sits cross-legged on Easter's swimming pool in "Come to Jesus". He tries to put his glass down on the surface, and it of course sinks to the bottom.Jesus [under his breath]: Goddamnit!
The Buffalo
The Buffalo
Voiced by: Ian McShane
"Believe."
First appearing in Shadow's dreams, what he (or it) is isn't all too clear only that he seems to have been around for a very very long time.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's stated repeatedly that the gods (Old or New) need at the very least to be remembered in order to not fade from existence and at the most to receive prayers to have any type of power. Yet it's implied that he's been around since prehistoric times, despite similar beings such as Nunyunnini ceasing to exist all together. It's also not clear if he's on the side of the Old Gods, the New, or so old that he's simply indifferent to the whole conflict.
- Animal Motif: Duh, he is one. Appropriately, a bison represents fortitude and change, among other things which shows in not only the symbolism of appearing in Shadow's dreams just before his life got very strange, but the fact he's been around so long despite long having stopped having any explicit followers or worshippers.
- As a bonus, the Buffalo was, and still is, sacred to the Native Americans along with the Prehistoric inhabitants of the continent. Nowadays, it's one of the animals most often connected to the image of America, meaning the Buffalo could very well be an American God, or even the American God.
- Fireball Eyeballs: Although unlike the Jinn, the fire is spraying out of his eyes like a flamethrower.
- Mythology Gag: Anyone whose read the book will know him to be "The Buffalo Man" only as a large bison with flaming eyes as opposed to a man with a buffalo head.
- The Old Gods: In a show where the gods of mythology refer to themselves as the "old gods," he is this to them: case in point, it's implied that he's the being worshiped by the tribe that Nunyunnini's people encounter... during the Ice Age.
- Time Abyss: Is a god from the Ice Age, making him older than the so-called Old Gods and somehow has managed to survive despite the fact that all of his believers should be long dead by now.
- Wham Shot: It's first implied that he's one of the Old Gods like Wednesday, then the "Coming to America" segment from "Lemon Scented You" shows a tribe of Prehistoric humans that appears to worship him, establishing the Buffalo to be older than all of the so-called Old Gods.
Season Two
Iktomi
Iktomi
Portrayed By: Julian Richings
Spider and trickster of the Native American (specifically Lakota) faith. At some point, he manages to obtain Wednesday's spear, Gungnir.
- Green Thumb: He seems to have this ability, using it to make a living as a weed farmer, and sprouts a seedling for Wednesday.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The Jinn refers to him as being very much like Nancy, as both are shapeshifting spider tricksters.
The Penny-Scouts
The Penny-Scouts
Portrayed By: Sadie Munroe (#1), Ava Preston (#2), Evylin O'Toole (#3)
The Penny Scouts are a trio of Girl Scout-esque figures that look normal at face value, but in reality, they are the heralds to the Bookkeeper.
- Barrier Maiden: They operate as the middle-man (collectively speaking) to the Bookkeeper.
- Eye Motifs: Each of them possesses a badge that resembles the Eye of Providence commonly found on the dollar bill, hinting at who they represent.
- Humanoid Abomination: It is made quite clear that the Penny Scouts are not just a normal trio of Girl Scouts selling candy. They all Speak in Unison, they address statements like an electronic security system, such as repeating "There is no account under the name Shadow Moon", and "Access Denied", they seem to possess some level of Omnipresence, knowing that Shadow Moon's name isn't the one on his birth certificate, and when they hear a statement that they don't like, such as someone being off the financial grid, "No debit, no credit.", all of the lights in the Motel America turn off instantly.
- Sigil Spam: They have patches on their clothes that depict currency symbols, the Providence Eye, and the phrase "E PLURIBUS UNUM"; all of which are symbols that appear on cash.
- Speak in Unison: All three of them speak at once, cluing everyone in that whatever they are, innocent little Girl Scouts they are not.
The Bookkeeper
The Bookkeeper / Money
Portrayed By: William Sanderson
The Anthropomorphic Personification of money, the process of transaction and the American economy.
- All-Powerful Bystander: While being one of most powerful beings in the country, he refuses to get involved in Mr. Wednesday and Mr. World's war when they ask for him to invest in their respective sides, citing that there is little opportunity in choosing one over the other.
- The Almighty Dollar: The idea of economic transactions is as old as the oldest of the Old Gods and as powerful as ever in a society that values money as strongly as capitalist America does, so even the God of Globalization Mr. World tries cutting a deal with the Bookkeeper, for nothing if not to let Mr. Wednesday take the advantage.
- Ambiguous Situation: The Bookkeeper refers to "Money" in the third person, which implies either a case of Third-Person Person or that he is just the middleman to the actual god of money, though no word on which case is correct.
- Eye of Providence: His symbol, being present on the girl-scouts that act as his herald.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: He is first introduced as an old man asking for his bill at the Motel America diner. When Mr. Wednesday and Mr. World sit at his table, he drops the act.
Alviss
Alviss
Portrayed By: Lee Arenberg
Alviss, King of the Dwarves from Norse Mythology and old frenemy of Mr. Wednesday.
- Actor Allusion: Before playing the King of Dwarves from Norse Mythology, Lee Arenberg had played Grumpy, leader of the Seven Dwarves in Once Upon a Time.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: At one point he was the manager of a massive factory with over 100 employees. Now he only manages himself.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Being the size of a human man of moderate height, he is a king among dwarves for being the tallest among them.
- We Used to Be Friends: Being from the same mythology, Alviss may have known Wednesday longer than any other character in the series. With that said, he is the most familiar with Wednesday's tricks and cons and rejects whatever he is proposing before it is even proposed.
William "Froggie" James
William "Froggie" James
Portrayed By: Warren Belle
An African American who was famously lynched for allegedly killing a white woman and now haunts the streets of Cairo, Illinois.
- Boomerang Bigot: With his dying breath, he cursed the black population of Cairo with death (instead of the white mob) for their complacency in his brutal death. Ibis explains that this is born from a "simple absence of solutions."
- Catchphrase: "Memento mori".note
- Cosmic Plaything: Mr. Nancy implies that Ibis and Jacquel had orchestrated his death in a long-term goal to ensure they get work through his curse.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: He manifests as a flaming head on a pike in the place where his lynching was enacted, cursing the black population of Cairo with his unfortunate fate.
- The Scapegoat: The closest thing to proof anyone had that poor Froggie had to killing the white woman is that he walked by her the previous day. Considering the time period, it was all the excuse they needed.
Dvalin
Dvalin
Portrayed By: Jeremy Raymond
A Nordic dwarf tasked with recharging the runes of Gungnir.
One-Eyed Balor
One-Eyed Balor
Portrayed By: Robert Maillet
King of the Fomorians that ruled pre-Christian Ireland and grandfather of Lugh.
- Evil Old Folks: He had his grandchildren drowned when one was prophesied to usurp him.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: He is told that one of his grandchildren would kill and replace him, so he has them all drowned. One survives and goes on to kill and usurp him as revenge for the attempted murder.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His armor is decorated with human ribcages.
