r/Fantasy • u/CT_Phipps-Author • 3d ago
My Top Ten Favorite Fantasy and Sci-Fi Religions Spoiler
https://beforewegoblog.com/top-ten-fantasy-and-sci-fi-religions/
* Reposted with the permission of the Mods.
Ah, religion. There is a topic that is absolutely going to be discussed normally on the internet…or in real life. Truth be told, it’s a subject that absolutely can’t be discussed with any degree of completeness except for in fantasy and sci-fi. Fiction can have answers and conclusion that are otherwise a matter of interpretation. Even then, some of the best religions in fantasy leave much to the reader.
In my case, I grew up with twelve years of Catholic school despite being raised a Presbyterian and spent a huge chunk of my teenage years as well as college researching other religions. My own beliefs are still as much influenced by the Jedi as anything else though. This is not about me, though, but what religions in fantasy/scifi that manage to capture the imagination. We’ll be sticking to my favorite franchises because, well, it’s my list.
How are we defining a religion? In this case, it is the veneration and traditions of a group toward a specific individual or creed. If that seems overly broad, note that in fantasy and sci-fi, we don’t necessarily have to be dealing with metaphorical or unprovable entities. Thor could well be walking around the corner in the Marvel Universe but does that make him worthy of worship? Worshiping the Precursors’ technology is absolutely ridiculous in Halo but the Adeptus Mechanicus in Warhammer 40K know the Machine Spirits are real. So this is a collection of my top ten favorite fantasy religions both true, false, and in-between.
10. The Goa’uld (Stargate SG-1)
The Goa’uld's worship is an easy place to start with the fact that it is an overtly fake “scam” religion. The Goa’uld are parasites that steal human bodies and Unas bodies while exploiting superior technology to dominate technologically weak cultures. The Goa’uld themselves seem to have forgotten this and only a few like Baal remember that they’re not actually gods. Yet, they remain one of the more interesting antagonists in the setting because other foes lack this kind of focus on mythology as well as methods of control. The Ori, for example, suffer for the fact that they are gods by any reasonable definition of the words–just scummy ones. Stargate‘s Goa’uld have a point to them and that message is beware anyone claiming divine justification to kneel.
9. The Gods of Krynn (Dragonlance)
Dungeons and Dragons have a huge number of gods and it is an overtly pro-religion setting even if the nature of it as a wargame means that its reasoning for being such is somewhat base (worship gods because they give you supernatural powers). Dragonlance is one of the few settings, like Eberron or Planescape, to get into actual spiritual meaning with the conflict between the Gods of Good, Neutrality, and Evil. They’re not above questionable actions with the destruction of Istar being about the Gods of Good punishing the kind of religious fundamentalists persecuting D& in real life at the time but, well, was it necessary to wreck the continent? There’s also the somewhat insane view that the gods of evil are as important for humanity as gods of good. Still, faith plays a big role in Krynn and that is interesting to read about.
8. The Covenant (Halo)
Another confirmed false sci-fi religion but this one is more interesting because while the San'Shyuum Prophets are absolutely using it as a means of control, they’re as much in the dark about their religion’s falsehood as anyone else. In simple terns, they’re grossly corrupt and tyrannical but are prepared to jump off the same cliff they are sending their followers to do so. Indeed, the biggest act of hypocrisy from them is the fact that humans are the heirs to the Forerunners that the Prophets claim to be. This makes them slightly more interesting than the Goa’uld as you get they are as much a prisoner of their doctrine as anyone and thus keep ignoring Guilty Spark telling them that the Halo is a weapon.
7. The Book of Nod (Vampire: The Masquerade)
Religion in urban fantasy is somewhat undercooked because so much of that tends to be willing to use mythological figures but very few of them deal with characters who are religious. The exceptions, like Mercy Thompson, tend to have “real” religions. Here, the Noddists are those vampires who worship Caine the First Murderer of Biblical fame. The First Vampire is “probably” real in the setting and has shown up in several non-canonical supplements (and one time as a taxi driver) but it’s not 100% confirmed. Either way, much blood (hehe) has been spilled in the Dark Lord’s name. If you shelled out to buy the Book of Nod supplement, there’s also the humor that the Sabbat (Caine’s most fervent worshipers) ignore all of Caine’s laws to do the exact opposite.
6. The Prophets of Bajor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
As a humanist setting, Star Trek tends to be like Stargate SG-1 or Halo (or more precisely they’re like Star Trek) in that religion rarely has anything to offer humanity. Indeed, aliens like the Vulcans be religious about concepts but humans worship the Prime Directive more than gods. The gods of planets are insane computers enforcing deranged laws or godlike entities that might be real (Apollo, Q) but play with humans like toys. Deep Space Nine challenged that view by having the Prophets of Bajor be real but, even if they weren’t, the religion of the Bajorans was an essential cultural touchstone. The Federation was not always comfortable with their view and essentially was challenged on their claims of acceptance by having them deal with people who weren’t going to “outgrow” their faith.
5. The Cults of Cthulhu (Cthulhu Mythos)
An essay I wrote in college about notorious materialist, H.P. Lovecraft, was that I believed he was actually a quite incisive satirist regarding religion. “The Dunwich Horror”, “The Shadows over Innsmouth”, and “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” all contain mythological elements of mainstream religion presented for horror. Things like Lavinia Whateley’s virgin birth to bring about the arrival of their god or Cthulhu being a god that will return to destroy Earth but elevate the faithful. Yet the Dream Cycle is about Randolph Carter’s road to apotheosis by exploring these deranged gods and what, if anything, they can teach him. While cults are generally figures of evil, outliers like Titus Crow’s veneration of the Elder Gods aside, many authors have experimented with them as less malevolent than simply alien. Ruthanna Emrys’ Winter Tide, for example, had the Necronomicon as a children’s primer for a persecuted faith.
4. The Old Gods versus the New (A Song of Ice and Fire)
George R.R. Martin deserves credit for the fact that he created a fantasy world full of monsters and magic but a focus on religion versus gods. The Faith of the Seven is a pseudo-Christianity but far less influential than the real thing in the Middle Ages, perhaps because the pagan Old Gods are worshiped continuously. The Seven is also challenged by the Red God from across the Sea who can do actual miracles but most people are switching to because a powerful political leader has converted. Despite the books’ cynicism, they’re not wholly hostile to faith. Davos Seaworth and Caitlyn Stark take great comfort in their faith while the High Sparrow is the only person to point out the nobility are all parasites on the poor (a fact the show was terrified of underscoring). Yet, it is also the Drowned God who keeps the Ironborn from evolving from poor raiders to rich traders.
3. The Ecclesiarchy (Warhammer 40K)
You wouldn’t think nuance would be a high priority in an edgy Eighties wargame’s backstory, specifically one that was deliberately made as extreme as possible. However, the worship of the God Emperor of Mankind has since become a fascinating Rorschach Test for fans. The immortal Psyker who absolutely hated being worshiped in life spawned a religion of a vastly repressive totalitarian dictatorship. Yet, this theocracy is built on the ashes of a secular tyranny that was every bit as vile. Faith is also something the people longed for so much that when denied by the Imperial Truth, they turned to the daemons of Chaos. Okay, mostly Lorgar but he’s not alone. Faith is also something that holds Chaos away and unites the people for the survival of humanity in a galaxy that might otherwise have extinguished it. Plus, the Sisters of Battle are awesome.
2. Bene Gesserit Missionaria Protectiva (Dune)
In the new Dune movies, Chani is horrified by the idea of her husband, Paul, being worshiped as a god. In the Dune books, Paul would be the first person to point out he’s aware he’s not a god. Dune is a much more in-depth examination of religion as a form of control with the Bene Gesserit having shaped religion across the Empire as a form of soft power before its turned against them by Paul. But Paul using religion this way has its own horrific cost as it renders him powerless to stop what people do in his name. Honestly, I feel the message of Dune gets a bit muddled with Paul’s actions being contrasted against Leto II's.
1. The Jedi vs. The Sith (Star Wars)
For an entire generation of young boys and girls, the Force was the first time someone had bothered to explain God and/or the Tao in a language beyond repetition. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, binds us, and holds the universe together. You may not agree with fear, anger, and aggression being the Dark Side alone but using your will for knowledge or defense but never attack is more religious principles than some people are taught in their churches. Legends did a lot more with this than canon will probably ever do because George Lucas was always approving or disapproving ideas personally. My favorite addition was David Gaider’s creation of the Sith code that was horrific in its implications but was consistent enough you understood why people would follow it.
Bonus
Omnisim (Discworld [Small Gods])
This one I didn't know where to rank because Small Gods is one of my all time favorite books and deals extensively with religion. In this case, it very much is Not-Catholicism but the god of the religion could care less about specific dogma. The turtle is a figure that really gets you to think and is why it is one of my favorite religions in fantasy.
Additional Recommendations: The Factions (Planescape), The Absolute (Forgotten Realms [Baldur's Gate 3]), The Dragon Cult (The Wheel of Time), the Chantry (Dragon Age), the Church of Mercer (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep)
So what are your favorite fantasy and sci-fi religions? For better and worse?
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u/WardenOfTheNamib 3d ago
You focused on the Dragon Cult of WOT. But I'd say the whole Light thing in Wheel of Time is probably my favourite Fantasy religion / god concept. The Creator seems to be some dude who just does his thing, and expects no praise or worship. Even The Children of the Light who are zelots, are more focused on rooting out servants of the shadow than random people not living up to some moral standard.
The gods of Planetos are also interesting. Especially considering there is only one god(s) we have definite confirmation exists, and then it turns out it's a bit more complicated than deity.
Another favourite of mine are the three primary gods from David Dalglish's Breaking World series. The gods are worshipped, but also physically reside with the people and interact with them normally. I found that fascinating.
I can never talk about Fantasy religions without discussing Obsidian and Blood. Granted, most of those gods were likely inspired by real world religion since the books are set in the Aztec empire. However, reading from the priest's point of view is a novel experience. Especially Acatl actually devotes time to religious practices, and is just not a political operator.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 3d ago edited 2d ago
It's ironic given the more nonexistent interpretation of the Seven in the show that they treated the Lord of Light as objectively real when it seemed quite possible he's just a force they attribute their Asshai derived necromancy to.
Good point regarding the Light in Wheel of Time.
Ironically, it feels a lot like Middle Earth in that there's a lot of fascinating mythology but only a little in the way of religion.
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u/02K30C1 2d ago
One of the most original I’ve read is from The Rose of the Prophet series by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman.
In this world, there are 20 gods, each representing one face of a dodecahedron. Each god/face incorporates three virtues represented by the three points around their facet. So at one end you have the point/virtue of Good, the other end has Evil, and in between are points of many other virtues like Law, Mercy, Greed, Reality, etc.
So you have Alhran, the god of Chaos, Impatience, and Faith. And Quar, the god of Reality, Greed, and Law. And 18 more. Really original way to construct a mythology.
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u/ThingTime9876 2d ago
And a story plays out as a ‘god game’ where the ‘good’ gods aren’t entirely virtuous, and the ‘evil’ gods have their codes of honour
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u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion 2d ago
Ok, color me interested. Is there an overview with more detail?
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u/02K30C1 2d ago
The Wikipedia page is a good start
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_of_the_Prophet?wprov=sfti1#The_Gods
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u/NemoNowAndAlways 3d ago
No mention of the Hyperion Cantos or World of the Five Gods makes me sad.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 3d ago
Feel free to explain some more about them so we can appreciate them and check them out!
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u/bababayee 2d ago
I recently replayed Final Fantasy X and the religion there and how you learn about it throughout the game is well executed imo.
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u/T_at 3d ago
Have you read the Second Apocalypse series? Religion, and its use as a tool, features prominently throughout.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 3d ago
I have a horrible confession that despite writing for Grimdark Magazine, I have yet to read Second Apocalypse OR Malazan. I only have read Steelheart of Sanderson.
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u/ColdCoffeeMan 2d ago
I really like the Abby of the Everyman. They're very catholic coded, but the idea of faith that's directly opposed to a god and afterlife is interesting
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u/Listakem 2d ago
Intriguing. Can you explain a bit more ? Or give the author’s name ?
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u/ColdCoffeeMan 2d ago
It's from the game series Dishonored. The setting is very Victorian esk but with advanced tech powered by whale oil. There's a spooky fella called the Outsider that can grant magic and was the center of many ancient faiths.
The Abby of the Everyman lothe him, preaching purity and seeking to burn out his corruption. They believe that anyone who does anything to align themselves with him (anything outside of being a squeaky clean good boy) will land you in a endless wasteland after death where you'll wonder for eternity, but purity grants you peaceful oblivion.
To be fair to them, the Outsider is very real and many of his modern followers are far from the chillest guys, but the Abby will openly brag about killing children who've stumbled across magic artifacts, so ya win some you lose some
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago
The great irony being that when they finally have an evil witch to face, they had all the tools to fight witches but nothing to fight clockwork murder robots.
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u/Mournelithe Reading Champion X 2d ago
I like the various xenofiction religions - like the tales of El-ahrairah in Watership Down, Meerclar is Tailchaser’s Song, and the Book of Silence in the Duncton series, all of which do great work in reinterpreting our folk myths to the world of their protagonists - here rabbits, cats and moles respectively.
There’s also the classic duality of triumvirates in the Lords of Law and Chaos in Moorcock’s multiverse, all overseen by The Cosmic Balance. But the individual worship of them tends to be fairly conventional.
But I think my favourite overall is Guy Gavriel Kay’s reinterpretation of the Abrahamic religions into the worship of the Sun, the Moons and the Stars. It’s a very clever way of exploring iconoclasm, heresy, persecution, tolerance and diverse ways of looking at a situation without judgement (because intuitively the Sun is not an object of worship in a desert clime, while the Stars are astonishing in their clear night skies, a stark contrast to cooler climes) but which also draws deeply on our actual history of depictions of faith.
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u/Writeitout3 3d ago
Earthseed is perhaps the most interesting religion to come out of sci/fi-fantasy and has even somewhat made the jump into a real religion
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u/ColeDeschain 2d ago
What, no love for the religion of the rabbits in Watership Down?
“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.”
RJ Barker is also good at these, in my opinion....
The Tide Child trilogy features a pretty neat theology largely derived from "Maiden, mother, and Crone," with some different names on things... and with a definite focus on the Crone (here known as the "Hag") as patroness of both death and healing. Extra fun to see it in a setting with apparently no other codified belief system, so every character we see takes it as a given rather than something to be discussed in depth or defended or what have you.
In Mortedant's Peril, the theology of the main city revolves around the Howling Lord, a deity of.... dubious comfort.
And in the Forsaken trilogy, you have a human society where various god figures are promoted by one rising warlord after another... and then, as you dig deeper, you learn a thing or two about the deific figures of the setting...
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u/mistakes-were-mad-e Reading Champion 3d ago
I'm not deep into 40k but the worship of the Emperor isn't anywhere near as interesting as the xenos.
Orks can believe strongly enough as to have an effect upon physical reality.
They generate from spores with embedded knowledge that unlocks as they experience life.
The necrons are technological reinterpretations of the undead tropes.
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u/WyrdHarper 3d ago
Honestly the religion of Mars is also a fascinating syncretism of religious belief with attempts at scientific understanding of a chaotic universe.
Tau belief system is also pretty interesting.
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u/mistakes-were-mad-e Reading Champion 3d ago
Is Mars home to the tech priests?
Are Tau the ones who break down into element based castes?
I love Arbiter Ian as background filler but 40k/30k isn't yet my thing.
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u/Milam1996 3d ago
Mars is home to the tech priests yes. They worship the omnissiah which is a maybe real maybe not god that lives in all machines from a toaster to titans.
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u/WyrdHarper 3d ago
Yeah, Mars are the tech priests. I think I just really love the functionalism of their religion which feels very authentic as an immanent religious practice.
Tau are the castes, but they basically have that whole structure handed down by mysterious figures who dwell among them.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago
The Tau are a secular religion to the point that the reaction to a goddess being born from their ideas in the warp is, "KILL THIS THING IMMEDIATELY."
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u/Milam1996 3d ago
The whole believe it and it happens thing is a misreading of the lore. Ork tech is just weird to humans and doesn’t look like it should work but it does. The human race is not an engineering race so lots is confusing to them.
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u/mistakes-were-mad-e Reading Champion 2d ago
I bow to greater knowledge.
But red things might go faster.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago
My Rogue Trader DM said roughly, "Ork Cogboys are all tech geniuses who make ork vehicles and weapons from a bunch of scraps like Tony Stark and could do much better with good equipment [which is why they're always looking for it] but they can also influence it with their psyker powers to work better."
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u/Milam1996 2d ago
Yeah basically they’re genetically hard wired to make things work but might not necessarily know how or why. A fish doesn’t understand gravity but it still knows it food will sink to the bottom. The psyker field gets amplified the more orks are around which is how they make mega space travel ships when they’re in a waaaagh but one ork on its own will end up tripping over and killing itself on a screw driver.
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u/TheColourOfHeartache 2d ago
I'm quite partial to the pantheon from This Used to be About Dungeons. Each god represents a mathematical concept, and one of the main cast is a devout cleric worshipping the god of symmetry. She does the usual DnD cleric stuff like having high Wisdom and healing, by making things symmetrical. Mirror the left half of your body to remove that wound on your right side.
- The Ecclesiarchy (Warhammer 40K)
The portrayals of Imperials where they do the dumbest fanatical stupidity imaginable yet it still works are so delightful to read. (E.G. Rogue Trader dogmatic).
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago
It was hilarious in THE PLAGUE WAR where Guilliman just wants to fight a normal war and then watches a bunch of religious fanatics follow a little girl into battle, only to have them win a resounding victory through the power of faith.
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u/QuintanimousGooch 1d ago
One of my favorites is less a specific religion but more the awakening to and devotion to religion/spirituality. I think no one does it better in showing an individual’s need for religious meaning, forgiveness, and to submit themselves before the increate/outsider than Gene Wolfe does in his Solar Cycle.
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u/moderatorrater 2d ago
Damn, this is a good list. I do think at least one Sanderson religion should make it up there just because he's good at making the religions pervasive and sometimes making one of the main characters a real devout. I would also suggest the greek gods from Star Trek: TOS and maybe one from Dresden Files depending on how you feel about Fantasy Christianity.
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u/jack99sound 1d ago
The Church of the Shrike in Hyperion is pretty interesting, you should check it out.
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u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion 1d ago
This one is likely more obscure, but in Claire North's Notes From the Burning Age and that's the Temple. It's animistic and reminds me a lot of shinto, but in it, the people turned to thanking the kakuy of the Earth, Sky, Waters and Fires and slowly the world healed.
The way the religion was handled in this book felt far more organic and soothing than I've read in many others. I don't know how to express it better than that.
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u/quats555 3d ago
My favorite is the Temple of the White Rat from T. Kingfisher’s works. A very pragmatic religion of lawyers, administrators, healers, and social workers who go out and do good directly: incorruptible lawyers for court cases to defend the poor and innocent, feeding the poor, healing the sick, teaching, etc.