Jesus



""For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.""

- John 3:16

Yeshua, supposed son of a carpenter (or joiner) named Yosef and a young woman (possibly a virgin) named Maryam, born in Nazareth (or Bethlehem) in Roman Israel, some time between 8 BC/BCE and 6 AD/CE. He began preaching in Palestine aged around thirty. His message was mainly of love, peace, mercy, kindness, charity, forgiveness and compassion, and he is said to have performed several miracles. Accused of defying Mosaic law, he was executed by crucifixion in Jerusalem around 30 AD/CE.

In addition to being the founder of Christianity, and second-'biggest' prophet in Islam, Christians believe that Jesus Christ (from Christos, "annointed", from the Hebrew word Messiah) is no less than the Son of God as well as being an aspect of God Himself. The New Testament of the Christian Bible says He was crucified by Roman procurator Pontius Pilatus after being betrayed by Judas Iscariot (Yehudah of Kerioth/Yehudah the Sicarius), but returned from the dead 3 days later. Muslims dismiss the idea that any human can be the Son of God or an aspect of God, but do believe that Jesus (whose name they translate as Isa) was born of a virgin mother and will someday return to Earth. They also believe that Jesus did not die on the cross, as God intervened to prevent it, carrying Jesus's physical body to Heaven. The whole Bible (or for some only the second half, depending on your views) is mostly about Him, His life, His sayings, and His deeds ... if you're not Jewish. But then you would not have the Bible, but the Tanakh.

Trope Namer for:


 * Bigger Than Jesus
 * Crystal Dragon Jesus
 * Clone Jesus
 * Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory
 * Hijacked by Jesus
 * Hippie Jesus
 * If Jesus, Then Aliens
 * Jesus Saves
 * Jesus Taboo
 * Jesus Was Crazy
 * Jesus Was Way Cool
 * Kung Fu Jesus
 * Looks Like Jesus
 * No Such Thing as Space Jesus
 * No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus
 * Pals with Jesus
 * Real Men Love Jesus

Also directly inspired the following tropes:


 * Away in a Manger
 * Crucified Hero Shot
 * Go and Sin No More
 * Last Supper Steal
 * The Messiah
 * Messianic Archetype
 * Never Accepted in His Hometown
 * The Paragon
 * Passion Play
 * Pieta Plagiarism
 * Second Coming
 * Turn the Other Cheek

And, indirectly:


 * The Antichrist
 * Anti-Anti-Christ

Many books, movies and so on were made about him, among them:


 * The Bible, of course.
 * In particular The Four Gospels, which are specifically about Jesus' life.
 * The Book of Mormon, climaxing with his post-resurrection visit to the American continent.
 * Ben-Hur
 * Godspell
 * The Greatest Story Ever Told
 * Jesus Christ Superstar
 * Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
 * Jesus of Nazareth
 * The Last Temptation of Christ
 * The Passion of the Christ
 * Saint Young Men, pals with Buddha
 *  Life of Brian gives him a bit part in the beginning, and features a man whose life paralleled his to an extent, only with less luck.
 * Lamb a very Affectionate Parody of his life as recounted by his best friend Biff.
 * The Nativity Story
 * The Miracle Maker

The 1979 film Jesus, a word-for-word adaptation of the gospel of Luke with British actor Brian Deacon in the title role, is claimed to be the most-watched movie of all time, due largely to its global translation and distribution by Christian missionaries. Because missionaries usually show the film to people free of charge, though, accurate figures for total viewings are pretty much impossible to come by, so don't expect to see the film on "Most Watched Films" lists alongside Gone with the Wind and Avatar any time soon.

For more tropes that describe Jesus, try the character page for The Four Gospels.

See also: Useful Notes on Christianity, Useful Notes on Gnosticism, Useful Notes on Islam and Useful Notes on Judaism.

Not to be confused with the manga Jesus, about a hitman-turned-teacher.