Where Is Your X Now?

"Tell me, where is your Maker now? Call him. Call down his wrath upon me. You cannot, for he does not exist!"

— Corypheus, Dragon Age: Inquisition

A Stock Phrase said by the villain when he has a character at his mercy, "Where Is Your X Now?" Usually done in an attempt to crush said character's spirit. Whether or not this works depends on the amount of cynicism of the work in question.

In less cynical stories, X in question will ultimately show up and save the day^note Usually at the last possible moment. It could come in the form of Divine Intervention, or a Big Damn Heroes moment. The point is the villain is proven wrong, and the character's faith in X was rewarded by rescue.

In more cynical works, the villain is ultimately proven correct. The character believes X is coming to save them in their Darkest Hour. They wait, and wait for X to come rescue them. Nothing will break their spirit. Suddenly, out of nowhere, X has arrived for them... But wait! No... It's just the villain playing a cruel joke on them. The truth is X isn't coming. The character is completely alone. The villain may even call them out on this, telling them that their belief in X has made them stupid.

Perhaps the most recognizable use of this trope is the phrase, "Where Is Your God Now?"

So tell me, my little troper, where are your examples now?

...um, right here.

---

Examples:

Fan Works

• In the Harry Potter fanfic "Fallen Angel", after Robert has been captured by an (absolutely crazy) woman, she is stupid enough to upset his friend. A definite example of Big Damn Heroes on Katherine's part.
  Muriel: Who's going to rescue you now, Mr Avery? Where's the infamous Miss Riddle when you need her?
  Robert: Right behind you.
• In The Prayer Warriors, Percy Jackson asks "Where are your false gods now?" to some Dirty Communists in "Threat of Satanic Commonism," after attacking and killing one of them.
• Dragon Ball Z Abridged: In the adaptation of the Garlic Jr. movie, Garlic Jr. uses Punctuated Pounding to ask Kami "Where! Is! Your! God! Now?!" ending the last word with punching Kami through a pillar.

Films — Animated

• Toy Story:
  • Used by Sid in the original film when "playing" with Woody. "Where are your rebel friends now?" Possibly a Shout-Out to Star Wars.
  • Used by Lotso in Toy Story 3. After Buzz and Woody help to save Lotso from being shredded, he then returns the favor by not only refusing to turn off the incinerator, but by then taunting Woody. "Where's your kid now, Sheriff?".

Films — Live-Action

• Throughout Pitch Black, devout Muslim Imam insists that God will provide for them. So when a sudden rain begins extinguishing the torches they've been using to keep the photosensitive alien locusts at bay, decidedly nihilistic career criminal Riddick mockingly asks him, "Where the hell's your God now?" This leads to an ironic inversion a few scenes later, when Riddick goes scouting ahead, returning with halogen lights and a clear path to a shuttle that can take them off the planet, Imam triumphantly retorts, "There is my God now, Mr. Riddick."
  • Although these things are all but impossible to track accurately, some hold this instance as the codifier for this phrase's current memetic popularity.
• Forrest Gump: Forrest's shrimping business isn't going so well, not even after intense prayer. Lieutenant Dan proceeds to mock him, at which point Hurricane Camille makes landfall.
  Lt. Dan: Where's that God of yours?!
  Forrest" (narrating) It was funny he said that, 'cuz just right then, God showed up!
• 30 Days of Night: Marlow says what amounts to "Where is your God now?" in a subtler form.
  Lady victim: Oh...God.
  Marlow: God? (looks around, frowns and shakes his head 'sadly') No God.
• During the course of The Thin Red Line, the philosophic and idealistic Private Witt occasionally tells the more hardened Sergeant Welsh, about a spiritual revelation Witt had, and how there is beauty and Light despite the horrors of war. Near the end of the film, as Welsh stands over Witt's grave after Witt's Heroic Sacrifice, Welsh asks him "Where is your Light now?"

Live-Action TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: In "Who Are You?", vampires take over a church despite their traditional fear of religious iconography, and announce they're going to start killing the congregation and see who turns up to save them. Faith does.
• Game of Thrones: After losing the battle of Blackwater, a pissed off Stannis chokes Melisandre, who promised his victory through the Lord of Light. "Where's your god now?" he says. She responds, "Inside you," and he releases her.
• Altered Carbon: The Dragon is a character called the Ghostwalker who worships the Meths because they can actively grant the prayers of those who serve them. When the Ghostwalker has Ortega at his mercy, he tells her that her neo-Catholic mother prayed to God when she died. "Where is your God now?" Ortega makes a point of reminding the Ghostwalker of this before she Real Deaths him.
  Ortega: My mother prayed to God, and He put you in my arms.

Literature

• Possibly the original use of this phrase: the audience member at the premiere of the now long-forgotten play Douglas who liked it so much that he yelled out "Where's your Willie Shakespeare noo?"
• In the third book of The Ruby Red Trilogy, Emerald Green, Alcott asks Gwen where the Kurucs who are supposed to protect her are now. She realizes that they're probably still in the basement and won't come to her rescue any time soon.

Music

• Stephen Lynch's song "Craig" (about Jesus' hard-partying Jerk Jock brother Craig Christ) squeezes this into the last verse:
  And if the lord will allow
  You got to ask yourself how
  And who and why and when and where is your messiah now?
• Fear Factory's "Pisschrist"

  Where is your savior now?

Mythology & Religion

• The Bible:
  • When Elijah competes with the priests of Baal over whose god can light their sacrifice, he makes fun of the other priests using lines similar to this trope. Some of the Psalms have this kind of line being said by Israel's enemies to the people of Israel about their God.
  • King Sennacherib of Assyria does this to King Hezekiah when he threatens to destroy Judah, saying "where are the gods" of the nations that he had conquered and suggesting that Hezekiah's God will not save him. It doesn't work well for the Assyrian king when, after King Hezekiah prays to God, he finds that 185,000 of his troops are all dead.
  • From Psalm 42:1-3:
  As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”
  • And from Psalm 79:10.
  Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let there be known among the nations in our sight the avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed.
  • From Psalm 115:1-2.
  Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?”
  • And from Joel 2:17:
  Let the priests, who minister to the Lord,
  Weep between the porch and the altar;
  Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord,
  And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
  That the nations should rule over them.
  Why should they say among the peoples,
  ‘Where is their God?’”
  • Strangely, God Himself invokes this in Moses's song in Deuteronomy 32:36-38, as a taunt against His own people in regards to the idols they have made or will make:
  For the Lord will judge His people,
  and relent in regard to His servants,
  when He sees that their power is gone
  and there is no one left, whether restrained or free.
  He will say: Where are their gods,
  their rock in whom they trusted,
  which ate the fat of their sacrifices
  and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
  Let them rise up and help you
  and be your protection.
  • And again in Jeremiah 2:26-28:
  As the thief is ashamed when he is found,
  so is the house of Israel ashamed.
  They, their kings, their officials,
  and their priests, and their prophets
  say to a tree, “You are my father.”
  And to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
  For they have turned their back to Me,
  and not their face.
  But in the time of their trouble they will say,
  “Arise and save us.”
  But where are your gods that you have made for yourself?
  Let them arise, if they can save you
  in the time of your trouble;
  for according to the number of your cities
  are your gods, O Judah.

Stand-Up Comedy

• Billy Crystal once did a bit impersonating Edward G. Robinson as Dathan in The Ten Commandments, in which he asks "Where's your messiah now?" The line isn't in the film, but many people think it is.

Theatre

• Hamlet asks such a question of his dead friend Yorick, the former court jester. In this case, it isn't intended as mockery, but rather a sobering expression of nostalgia:
  "Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?"

Web Original

• On the Internet, this phrase has become a meme
• During Dead Zone Abridged, Garlic Jr. accentuates his punching Kami with "Where. Is. Your. God. Now?!"

Video Games

• If Dark Pit beats Pit (and only Pit) in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, he will utter "Where's your goddess now?".
• Shao Kahn, in the beginning to Mortal Kombat 9, as he beats Raiden around like a ragdoll.
  Shao Kahn: Where are the Elder Gods, Raiden?
• In Grand Theft Auto IV, Dardan threatens Roman for owning him money. As he's about to possibly kill him, he asks "Where's your Russian friend now, huh?", referring to Roman's loanshark, Vlad, Roman's cousin Niko steps in just in the nick of time to save him.

Western Animation

• In an episode of Dilbert ^note episode 25, The Virtual Employee in case you're wondering, the group creates a fictional employee by the name of Todd, to keep an empty cubicle, by saying it belonged to Todd. Soon Todd's reputation begins to grow. As the group are enjoy the empty cubicle, the power suddenly goes out as Catbert appears:
  Catbert: I understand you've been praising Todd.
  Alice: You could say that.
  Catbert: His personnel folder is curiously empty, no photo, no work history. Hmm, very, very suspicious.
  Wally: Uh, Todd works in mysterious ways.
  Catbert: He won't work at all if his file doesn't turn up soon. You see... I don't believe in Todd.
  Wally: You take that back!
  Catbert: There is no Todd. Todd only exists in your minds...
  [Wally tries to attack Catbert, but is taken down by his trolls]
  Catbert: Where's your Todd now, hmm? Mauahahaha!
• Avatar: The Last Airbender:
  "Where's your Painted Lady now?"
• The Simpsons: During the episode "Homer Loves Flanders", Chief Wiggum asks Ned Flanders "Where's your messiah now?" when he arrests him. (This is a Shout-Out to the supposed The Ten Commandments example, with the joke being that Wiggum's voice is based on Edward G. Robinson.)
• A mix of this trope and You and What Army? shows up in Star Wars Rebels. After Ryder (supposedly) betrays the Rebellion and the Lothal cell seems to be destroyed, Rukh chases Ezra into the caverns, and taunts him by asking where his army is now. Ezra ignites his lightsaber to reveal a whole pack of Loth-wolves at the ready, who charge out and rapidly turn the tide.
• A coloring book of The Hair Bear Bunch had Peevly railing on the bears to shape up or ship out. Hair presents an animal Bill of Rights, which Peevly takes and tears up.
  Peevly: Now where is your Bill of Rights?

---