1. Gladiolus83

    Gladiolus83 Contributor Contributor

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    Should I keep the term or not?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Gladiolus83, Mar 11, 2020.

    In my series I have four characters who are refered to as gods, but given the term and the powers they (sometimes) possess it might cause some readers to wonder why they haven’t gotten rid of the enemies a long time ago instead of engaging in wars that span over generations. I could power them down to simply being stronger than other humans but can I still call them gods of they aren’t omnipotent?
     
  2. keysersoze

    keysersoze Senior Member

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    They might have other agendas with those enemies. Maybe they can fight with your other enemies and destroy each other. One will be eliminated and the other one would be weakened. Another reason can be that they expect those enemies to take certain steps that might be fruitful for them in the prolonged quest for power. Destroying opponents is really a very last step. Disarming them is more desirable and not always possible. Hence the race for power and all that good stuff in fiction. If gods can't practice discretion, then they are not gods but only forces of nature. And those aren't all that interesting, are they?
     
  3. Gladiolus83

    Gladiolus83 Contributor Contributor

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    Now this is a little tricky...... On one side in the conflict we have the demons lead by four individuals called the demon kings and on the other we have the humans lead by the four gods. The gods are brothers, by the way, so most of the time they are not at odds with each other. And what is the source of this conflict? Well, the humans have more or less driven the demons from their homes and forced them to live in hiding. The demons just want their rightful place in the world back and the humans just defened themselves against the demon attacks.

    But this might not help with the question wether I can keep calling the characters gods or not.......
     
  4. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    The omnipotence, omnipresence, omniomnience of God is a concept that's highly informed by Western Abrahamic thought. It's like the endgame in a tussle between children trying to outdo one another and finally one of them remembers to deploy, "Oh yeah, well I'm infinity stronger than you, so there!"

    Other traditions do not view the concept of God or gods in that same final smug retort sort of way.

    The gods of Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke) are not omnipotent or even completely immortal. They can and do die. They are gods of a more humble nature, concerned with more terrestrial matters. They are smaller, more personal, and at the same time more magnificent than some invisible concept. They have purposes that are clear. They guide nature and care for its well being.

    Most traditions that include some form of a pantheon will have this aspect, that the gods are rather more mortal and accessible than God of the Bible.

    I'd keep it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2020
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  5. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Zeus, Odin, Ra, The Jade Emperor et al were not omnipotent.
     
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  6. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    The Greco Roman gods could create the cosmos one day and get outsmarted by a chipmunk the next. So you're probably good.
     
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  7. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Else transform into one and become inexplicably irresistible to the local hotties. ;)
     
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  8. Gladiolus83

    Gladiolus83 Contributor Contributor

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    Keep it, got it. Still need to trim their powers so they don't come off as to overpowerful, though.
     
  9. Rzero

    Rzero Reluctant voice of his generation Contributor

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    It might be worth considering the possibility that near-omnipotence doesn't necessarily have to mean that powers are as effective against similarly powered opponents as they would be against anyone else. There could be any number of reasons why the baddies are hard to kill. Thus the war wages on.

    Look to DC. They've been working with similar problems for many decades. Most of their heroes are (generally speaking) very god-like. They're invulnerable and almost unstoppable, but they have Achilles heels and well-matched villains, things that prevent the story from ending on the first page. I'm more of a Marvel man myself, but one of the things that draws in DC fans is this god vs. god dynamic semi-unique to comics until recent decades.
     
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