n the back-story of my WIP, a thousand ago the villain caused a great war between the races (humans, demons, and Gods) which consumed the world. He kills several Gods and take their power and basically reeks havoc with his army. The creator God, called "Father" finally has enough of his children killing each other and sends a comet crashing down on the Earth eliminating every ounce of the combatants and countless others. Needless to say they hasn't been a major war or conflict since then. Problem is, I'm worried that such an act will make "Father" too...IDK evil of a deity and the villain too mild in comparison. Does that thought have merit or am I overthinking and should just develop the villain more? *Also this whole thing isn't some metaphor for own religious beliefs or anything like that. I just thought it'd be a cool idea.
Sounds like the Old Testament, pretty much, so if a billion people can believe in it, i pretty sure you can get away with it.
I don’t see a problem with an evil god/creator/father at all. There is much precedent for it in major world religions. If God is the ultimate creator of everything, then he is also the creator of Evil. Further more, if God knows everything, then he was fully aware that his creation would result in evil.
The God of the Abrahamic faiths also displays a number of typical bad guy characteristics. Flooding the world because people are doing things he doesn't like? Killing his followers for stepping out of line? Saying that anyone who doesn't worship him will burn for eternity? Typical self-centered villain. Reminds me of the Goa'uld and the Ori from Stargate. But if that's an okay thing to believe in the real world, then a fictional god killing millions to end wars seems perfectly reasonable in comparison. I think you're fine with what you have. Personally, I think it makes for an interesting twist on the usual loving Creator. And if the villain doesn't seem so bad in comparison, well, that just makes things even more interesting.
In Anne Rice's Memnoch the devil (mainly written from the POW of the devil) God isn't all too friendly or honest either, and the devil seems nicer and more concerned about humanity than god... And it was a really good book. So I guess it works, as long as it is well backed up
Always remember that even the villains and "evil" characters believe in what they are doing. They're very much like the good guy that way. They truly believe, through their own morality, that their cause is just. No one in a story ever thinks they are really doing the wrong thing. It's how you portray them that makes the determination of who they are. If you feel that a character you are writing about is coming across as too evil, then maybe you could explore his motivations and expand on them. Maybe there is an inner conflict there that has him at his end that can be delved into a bit deeper so the reader feels some sympathy for how hard that decision was to reach.
God did that with the great flood, killing everyone but Moses, his wife, and a bunch of animals. I don't see why your book's God can't.
First of all, a vast number of world religions, mostly historical ones but some present ones too, have important gods who are vengeful, angry, and must be appeased through blood. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making an evil God, even though if you call him God you risk offending people, but they're the kind of people that get offended by the fact that the plus sign on a calculator looks like a cross. Don't worry about it. I know you stated that it wasn't the case, but in literature you can create satire of religion or parallel it. For example, the deity (who is also a villain) in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series is called The Authority, but has many parallels to the Christian God, and an antagonistic organization in the series is clearly based on the Roman Catholic Church. The series has caused controversy, because people got offended. So what? It's a fantastic series. People still love those books, and the fact remains that the controversy is thought-provoking.
It sounds like it could be a natural disaster which is attributed to a deity by a medievil civilisation. It could be interesting espcially if the natural disaster happens again, only in more peaceful times. Or your hero could find out the truth and face a moral dilemma over whether he should expose the truth.
I like the idea. The "father" god reacts but is it an over-reaction? Does the world respond with fear or relief? Is there a character, evil or otherwise, who is interested in provoking or just asking why? I could see a lot from this. I say run with it. Ya never know.
Some clarification of terms: "God" (with a capital "G") is used to refer to a special type of god, who is all-powerful and has created everything. It's identical to the God of Christianity, the Allah of Islam, the Brahma of Hinduism, etc. Believing in, or even worshipping, an evil god (generic "g") is possible, but I'm not sure any religion has ever believed in an evil God (capital "G"). There is no problem, however, with having a God who is beyond good and evil, or who embodies both aspects. In Hinduism, for example, all gods, both good and evil, are different aspects of the all-encompassing Brahma.
If you look at the Old Testament, God isn't exactly the nicest guy. He's very angry and vengeful, bringing his wrath down on people whom he doesn't agree with. He's not evil, but your god sounds pretty close to what I'm talking about. The Aztecs believed that all their chief gods needed constant sacrifice and blood--they weren't evil, but they still fit your needs. Stuff like that.
