Myths of the Realm Rewritten

[Absimiliard]

FF10 revolves completely around religion and the end of it has you

fight Yu Yevon, god of the religion of the world.

Hydaelyn and Zodiark also may not have been ACTUAL gods, but that didn’t stop the Ascians from specifically calling Zodiark “the one true god” since ARR and treating him as such. Zodiark is one in the truest sense of the game’s world since he actually had powers to rewrite the fabric of reality.

While we now know they, other primals, and FFX’s example aren’t gods, that didn’t stop people from believing they were with whole theologies built around them, and we even have a line in SB where we tell the Kojin that we’ll “kill their god”.

Calling something a god doesn't make it a god. Something being worshipped as a god also doesn't make it a god. A creature possessing the power of a god doesn't make it a god either. It's all in the presentation.

[Ath192]

Calling something a god doesn't make it a god. Something being worshipped as a god also doesn't make it a god. A creature possessing the power of a god doesn't make it a god either. It's all in the presentation.

god
1 of 2
noun
ˈgäd also ˈgȯd
pluralgods
Synonyms of god
1
God : the supreme or ultimate reality: such as
a
: the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped (as in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism) as creator and ruler of the universe
Throughout the patristic and medieval periods, Christian theologians taught that God created the universe …
—Jame Schaefer
… the Supreme Being or God, the personal form of the Ultimate Reality, is conceived by Hindus as having various aspects.
—Sunita Pant Bansal
b
Christian Science : the incorporeal divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit : infinite Mind
2
or less commonly God : a being or object that is worshipped as having more than natural attributes and powers
specifically : one controlling a particular aspect or part of reality
Greek gods of love and war
3
: a person or thing of supreme value
had photos of baseball's gods pinned to his bedroom wall
4
: a powerful ruler
Hollywood gods that control our movies' fates

[Absimiliard]

god
1 of 2
noun
ˈgäd also ˈgȯd
pluralgods
Synonyms of god
1
God : the supreme or ultimate reality: such as
a
: the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped (as in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism) as creator and ruler of the universe
Throughout the patristic and medieval periods, Christian theologians taught that God created the universe …
—Jame Schaefer
… the Supreme Being or God, the personal form of the Ultimate Reality, is conceived by Hindus as having various aspects.
—Sunita Pant Bansal
b
Christian Science : the incorporeal divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit : infinite Mind
2
or less commonly God : a being or object that is worshipped as having more than natural attributes and powers
specifically : one controlling a particular aspect or part of reality
Greek gods of love and war
3
: a person or thing of supreme value
had photos of baseball's gods pinned to his bedroom wall
4
: a powerful ruler
Hollywood gods that control our movies' fates

In the literary sense. I'm confident you knew full well what I meant.
So here's a question with that very thing in mind:
If you have a civilization that worships a particular dragon as a god in a setting, but we as players/readers are aware it is not in fact a god, is it still a god?

Consider for a moment that a good deal of fictional settings include entities that fit most, sometimes all of the dictionary's criteria for godhood but are decidedly never presented as gods, are never called gods, and are often times specifically called other things to differentiate them from gods. Some such beings may be referred to as gods by a specific set of worshippers, while others (or at least readers) are made aware it isn't a god at all, even should it meet the criteria to be called such. There are countless ways to present such creatures without having to invoke the common deity tropes.

[Ath192]

In the literary
So here's a question with that very thing in mind:
If you have a civilization that worships a particular dragon as a god in a setting, but we as players/readers are aware it is not in fact a god, is it still a god?

Yes, I would say so. It is consistent with the dictionary description as well, a being or object that is worshipped as having more than natural attributes and powers. Just because we are ignorant of it, or deny it as being a god because we ourselves don't worship it, or its even presented to us as a non-god, does not mean this entity is not being worshipped and is a god to a subset of people.

Since it matches the definition, it is a god, whether you reject it or not.

[DPZ2]

Since it matches the definition, it is a god, whether you reject it or not.

"Excuse me. What does god need with a starship?"

Sometimes "gods" are just. Not.

[Absimiliard]

Yes, I would say so. It is consistent with the dictionary description as well, a being or object that is worshipped as having more than natural attributes and powers. Just because we are ignorant of it, or deny it as being a god because we ourselves don't worship it, or its even presented to us as a non-god, does not mean this entity is not being worshipped and is a god to a subset of people.

Since it matches the definition, it is a god, whether you reject it or not.

Am I to infer then that if an author tells the readers a character being worshipped as a god (or possessing multiple qualities of gods) isn't actually a god, it should be considered one anyway in spite of the author's intent? Because creatures that possess all the qualities of gods but are expressly stated not to be gods are quite common in fiction, as are entities worshipped as gods despite possessing none of the qualities aside from said worship.

In fact, why don't we use Zodiark and Hydaelyn as our examples? Both were originally believed as gods. Both were later revealed to not be gods, yet they clearly possess attributes in line with gods as defined by the dictionary. Are they still gods, when the game tells us outright they aren't?

Not trying to poke fun. I am genuinely curious as to where you draw the line between dictionary definition and writer intent.

[Ath192]

Am I to infer then that if an author tells the readers a character being worshipped as a god (or possessing multiple qualities of gods) isn't actually a god, it should be considered one anyway in spite of the author's intent? Because creatures that possess all the qualities of gods but are expressly stated not to be gods are quite common in fiction, as are entities worshipped as gods despite possessing none of the qualities aside from said worship.

In fact, why don't we use Zodiark and Hydaelyn as our examples? Both were originally believed as gods. Both were later revealed to not be gods, yet they clearly possess attributes in line with gods as defined by the dictionary. Are they still gods, when the game tells us outright they aren't?

Not trying to poke fun. I am genuinely curious as to where you draw the line between dictionary definition and writer intent.

The problem with this take is that entities do not choose whether they are gods or not, its collective faith that does. If the people in Eorzea worship these beings they are gods to them. However, if an entity has god like qualities, but isn't worshipped, then it is not a god, because the aspect of faith is missing.

If the author does not consider them gods that is because they reject them as such, not because they are not gods to their worshippers. Also, a god can have multiple statuses, they can be an ascian and a god, a primal and a god etc..

I don't know if I missed this but you must have a concrete definition of what a god is, with a set of criteria, if you don't, then how could you possibly know what is or isnt a god let alone claim an entity is or isnt? And if your criteria is whatever the author tells you then... thats you.. he's your dictionary, but I'll stick to the approved definition as stated in the Merriam Webster dictionary.