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{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Ram:''' Do you believe in the Users?<br />
'''Crom:''' Sure I do. If I don't have a User, then who wrote me?|''[[Tron (Film)|Tron]]''}}
 
{{quote|''Talos, once known as [[I Have Many Names|Tiber Septim, Ysmir, or the Dragonborn, Heir to the Seat of Sundered Kings]], is the greatest hero-god of Mankind, and worshipped as the protector and patron of just rulership and civil society. Tiber Septim conquered all of [[Medieval European Fantasy|Tamriel]] and ushered in the Third Era and [[The Empire|the Third Empire]]. At his death he ascended to godhood as the God of War and Governance of the Nine Divines.''|''Entry on Talos'', '''[[The Elder Scrolls]]''' wiki.}}
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If the [[Deity of Human Origin]] is [[The Maker|the creator]] of the world/universe, then it's another one than the one he grew up in... Unless he's in a [[Stable Time Loop]], of course.
 
Having created a world does not automatically make a person into this trope: It's a matter of how the whole thing is portrayed. Let's say that some guy creates a virtual world where the computer programs are real individuals with real emotion & self-aware intelligence. If the programmer [[The Thirteenth Floor|comes across as]] having crossed some kind of [[Moral Event Horizon]], it's not this trope. If [[Tron (Film)|they instead come across as]] some kind of [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]], it's definitely this trope.
 
In a setting where [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|gods are powered by the faith of their followers]], it may be possible for a mortal to ascend to godhood with sufficient worship. The classic example is a hero so renowned that the common people pray to him or her for aid.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* Earth's god in ''[[Dragon Ball (Manga)|Dragon Ball]]'' falls into this category, where essentially anyone strong and pure of heart can qualify for the role. The current god even considers giving it to [[Idiot Hero|Son Goku]] at one point. Note that being born on Earth isn't even a requirement, said current god being an alien.
* The elevation of Yurie, the title character of ''[[Kamichu (Anime)|Kamichu!]]'' to divine status in much the same way as listed in Myth below, kick starts the plot and her learning how to deal with her new status is a significant point in many episodes.
* ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'': Orochimaru counts as a demon of human origin, though he fancies himself this. He ''used'' to be a regular human, but somewhere along the line became a [[Eldritch Abomination|snake demon]]. The {{spoiler|Sage of Six Paths}} certainly qualifies as well.
* ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]''
** Aizen, though he is most assuredly of the [[God Is Evil]] variety.
** Kurosaki Ichigo was born a Human with Shinigami powers. By the climax of Deicide {{spoiler|he is so powerful that his reiatsu is now in a dimension twice removed from the Shinigami.}}
* The Lifemaker/Mage of the Beginning in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]],'' as can probably be guessed from the name, is the creator of the Magical World and presumably its first inhabitants. The Lifemaker is over two thousand years old, immensely powerful, immortal and is referred to as the god of the Magical World, though he was presumably once human.
 
 
== Card Games ==
* Planeswalkers in ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering (Tabletop Game)|Magic the Gathering]]'' begin their lives as mortals and, before the events of ''Future Sight'', became [[Physical God|Physical Gods]].
 
 
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Watchmen (Comic Bookcomics)|Watchmen]]'' averts this during the actual storyline. Dr Manhattan claims that he is not a God and that he doesn't like people. At the end, however, he has changed his mind: He likes people after all, so maybe he'll create some as his next project.
* [[Wonder Woman]] became the Goddess of Truth for a short while after she was killed in action and the Greek gods decided to reward her for her devotion. However she was ''too'' good to be a god, using her new powers more to help people than gain worshipers, so they eventually demoted her back to mortal superhero.
* The ''[[Tron (Film)|Tron]]'' example below is given a [[Deconstruction]] in the [[Alternate Continuity]] ''TRON: Ghost In the Machine.'' Jet Bradley finds out about what his game programming means on the other side of the screen, does ''not'' [[Go Mad From the Revelation|handle the revelation well]], and is scared to even go near a computer after finding out.
* In [[Supergod]], superheroes are Gods. However, [[God Is Flawed|the concept of "God" is a flawed one]].
* In ''[[Lucifer (Comic Book)|Lucifer]]'', Mona Doyle eventually becomes a Goddess. {{spoiler|So does Elaine Belloc, but Elaine was never really human.}}
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== Films -- Live-Action ==
* ''[[Tron (Film)|Tron]]'': In this movie (as well as the sequel), computer programs are real people with real feelings, and the world they live in is very real in its own right. Their gods, the Users (with a capital U) tend to refer to themselves as "human", a designation that is quite irrelevant to the setting. See Page Quote.
* Over 90% of ''[[Tron Legacy (Film)|Tron: Legacy]]'' takes place in a world known as The Grid, and the major conflict is built on three characters (two of them played by the same actor) who we can call The Father, The Son and The Devil. The Father is the creator if the world and also the father of the Son -- whose arrival to the world brings new hope and a chance of salvation from the Devil character who has ruled the world since he rebelled against The Father. The Father is wise and benevolent, a personality that might seem a bit out of character for those who have seen the first movie and remember him as an [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|immature brat]]. {{spoiler|At the very end, it is revealed that he was still immature and shortsighted when he created the world and the creature that would usurp him and take the role of devil. This is revealed that this is the reason for why the world is in the sorry condition it is -- The Devil was simply carrying out the orders given to him by The Father to the best of his ability, but the Father who created him and his world was flawed. Thus he carried out flawed orders to the best of his flawed ability. This turned his quest for perfection into something vile, warping him into a [[Totalitarian Utilitarian]] leader of something that [[Putting Onon the Reich|looks eerily familiar]].}}
 
 
== Literature ==
* Exploring this concept is the whole plot of ''[[Lord of Light]]''.
* The ''[[Incarnations of Immortality (Literature)|Incarnations of Immortality]]'' series plays this straight. In the series, all significant forces -- Death, Fate, Nature, War, Time and so forth are normal humans who assumed the Office. However, most of these Incarnations are not worshiped.
* In the ''[[Tortall Universe|Immortals]]'' quartet, {{spoiler|Sarai, Daine's mother}}, a mortal, dies and goes to the Realms of the Gods to join her husband {{spoiler|Weiryn}}. Since only gods are allowed to live in the Realms, she is granted a place among the minor gods and becomes the Green Lady, a patroness of healing and childbirth.
* The Ellimist from ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' was originally mortal; the full story of his [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|ascension to a higher plane]] is told in ''The Ellimist Chronicles''.
* In the metaverse of most of [[Brandon Sanderson]]'s works, various humans apparently got hold of pieces of a god called Adonalsium which broke apart, and proceeded to become gods in their own right, creating all the various worlds Sanderson writes in (except Alcatraz-Earth and obviously the world of WoT). There are apparently 16 total Shards of Adonalsium, some of which have been broken up further since.
** We also have cases like ''[[Mistborn]]'s'' Lord Ruler and ''[[Warbreaker]]'s'' Returned, where humans attain a state that is considered divine by various groups in-universe, though they're not gods in the cosmic sense.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]]''
** The ''[[Forgotten Realms (Tabletop Game)|Forgotten Realms]]'' setting contains several gods who were once human, but ascended to replace other gods who had died. Examples include Cyric, Kelemvor and Mystra who were adventurers until their ascensions during the Time of Troubles.
*** Two necromancers from the wizard nation of Thay had a rivalry who of them would become more powerful. One of them was Szazz Tam, the current ruler of Thay and one of the very small circle of contenders for the title of most powerful lich wizard in the world. He lost. His rival was Velsharoon, who became the god of necromancy.
** In the ''[[Greyhawk (Tabletop Game)|Greyhawk]]'' setting, St. Cuthbert and Vecna are both ascended mortals. (Well, ascended [[Undead]] in Vecna's case.)
** Cas, [[Divine Ranks|Demigod]] of Spite from the aptly-named ''Heroes of Horror'' supplement. He was denied justice in mortal life, and his hatred was massive enough to exalt himself to godhood. This Baphomet-like figure grants power to exact spite ([[Deal Withwith the Devil|at a price]]), not unlike [[Hell Girl (Anime)|Enma Ai]].
** In the ''Points of Light'' setting, The Raven Queen was given domain over death after Nerull proved to be too problematic.
** This is the core philosophy of the Believers of the Source (or "Godsmen") in ''[[Planescape (Tabletop Game)|Planescape]]'': All mortals have the capacity for apotheosis, which will come to you in your next life (or possibly a later one) if you improve yourself enough and become "worthy" through your actions in this one.
** Many of the Immortals in the [[Mystara]] setting were once human, or members of some other humanoid race. Others derive from more exotic non-divine species (treant, earth elemental, sapient dinosaur), and still others no longer remember their personal origins, but assume they were once mortal because that's how the younger Immortals came to be.
* ''[[Pathfinder (Tabletop Game)|Pathfinder]]''
** Likewise, this setting has [[Chaotic Good|Cayden Cailean]], god of adventurers, freedom, and booze. He became a god by getting ''[[What Did I Do Last Night?|really drunk]]'' and partaking in a life-threatening test of ascension. He passed.
** There are some other ascended humans in ''Pathfinder'', such as [[Lawful Good|Iomedae]], goddess of honor, justice and valor; [[Lawful Neutral|Irori]], god of history, knowledge and self-perfection; and [[Neutral Evil|Norgorber]], god of greed, murder and secrets. Cayden, thanks to the aforementionned circumstances of his ascension, has the most player fans.
** Arguably the first (and most disturbing) case, however, would be [http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Urgathoa Urgathoa], who became a goddess long before the others, basically through sheer evil willpower instead of any test. Myth claims this was the origin of both undead and disease.
* The [[Exalted (Tabletop Game)|Exalted]] of the game of the same name are humans given divine powers that allow them to exceed not only gods, but the creators of their world. The [[Anti-Anti-Christ|Green Sun Princes]] can also become full on Primordials or [[Faustian Rebellion|Devil-Tigers]], elevating them to the status of world-makers and shakers without losing the common touch.
* In ''[[Warhammer 40000 (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer 40000]]'', the Emperor has many characteristics in common with the Chaos Gods, and seems to be about as powerful as them. It is suggested that if He ever dies, He will become a full deity. Of course, it might also remove the Astronomicon, destroying the Imperium, so nobody wants to take the risk. He's really closer to the Eldar gods than any of the other deities though; as the Chaos and Ork gods have no physical presence and the C'Tan are more of [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]].
* Like the Emperor, the Man-God Sigmar in ''[[Warhammer (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer]]'' is an ascended mortal; while it is heavily implied that the gods Myrmidia and Ranald may be as well.
* In both ''[[Mage: The Ascension (Tabletop Game)|Mage: The Ascension]]'' and its [[Spiritual Successor]] ''[[Mage: The Awakening (Tabletop Game)|Mage: The Awakening]]'', it's possible for a mage who has reached perfect understanding of their magic to become an Oracle, a being of the Umbra/the Supernal Realms that guides the hand of reality from behind the scenes. ''Awakening'' also has the Oracles' [[Evil Counterpart|Evil Counterparts]], the Exarchs. Way back in the day, the proto-Exarchs forcibly entered the Supernal Realms, kicked out their native gods, and became the new gods. The earliest Oracles entered the Realms to stand against the Exarchs' dominion of reality.
* The Invisible Clergy of [[Unknown Armies]] veer between this and [[God Job]]. Mortals who ascend and become Archetypes have [[God's Hands Are Tied|limited power]] individually, but once all {{spoiler|333}} of them are together, they can create a new universe... or maybe rewrite this one. Or destroy this one and then replace it. Details are sketchy.
 
 
== Video Games ==
* In the original ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]'', a major theme the idea that, in the absence of a real or metaphorical god, one should be made. In one of the endings, which is alluded to by the page quote from [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Morpheus]], {{spoiler|This trope actually occurs, with JC Denton merging with the AI Daedalus to create Helios, becoming what is essentially [[Deus Est Machina|a god]], and in [[Deus Ex: Invisible War (Video Game)|the sequel]], if the player sides with Helios, the result could be likened to the infamous [[Instrumentality]] from ''[[End of Evangelion]]'' with less [[Memetic Mutation|Tang.]]}}
* The ''[[Galactic Civilizations]]'' [[Backstory]] has a human go back in time and become involved in the creation of the universe. His influence also creates the Altarians.
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls (Video Game)|The Elder Scrolls]]''
** The Tribunal in the series, which is a plot point in ''[[The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind (Video Game)|Morrowind]]''. {{spoiler|And their godhood fades again after the Nerevarine destroys their source of power and reveals their religion for what it is.}}
** Also Tiber Septim, also known as Talos ([[I Have Many Names|and about a dozen other things]]), who achieved apotheosis and became one of the Nine Divines.
* In ''[[Runescape (Video Game)|Runescape]]'', the god Zamorak was originally a mortal mahjarrat.
* Dr. Sepulveda, creator of the digital world ''[[Darwinia (Video Game)|Darwinia]]'', is worshipped as a god by its inhabitants after accidently linking a webcam to the program and having his image displayed in their sky.
* Rosalina from ''[[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Super Mario Galaxy]]'' was originally an ordinary girl before she became the supreme deity of the Marioverse.
* In ''[[God of War (Video Gameseries)|God of War]]'', {{spoiler|Kratos is granted the position of the God of War after killing Ares. His rebellion in the second game is caused by the other gods' lack of respect for him since he ascended by deicide.}}
* In ''[[Guild Wars (Video Game)|Guild Wars]]'' {{spoiler|Kormir takes up Abaddon's power and becomes the Goddess of Truth at the end of Nightfall.}}
* Many of the mortal villains of the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, including [[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|Garland]], [[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Emperor Mateus]], [[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Kefka]], and [[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Sephiroth]], become [[Physical God|physical gods]] by the end of their respective games -- [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|not that it helps them]].
* In ''[[Touhou]]'', Sanae Kochiya is a [[Miko]] who is also referred to as a goddess. Two reasons for this: Suwako (an actual [[Physical God|goddess]]) is her direct ancestor, meaning she has divine blood, and during her life in the outside world her resultant ability to create miracles gathered her a small number of worshippers. That said, her divine powers are pretty weak, as she doesn't have many worshippers and her magic abilities outshine her divine ones anyway. When she first meets Reimu, she talks about how [[Miko]] can become gods if they try, to which Reimu replies she has no interest in that.
** According to [[All There in the Manual|side materials]], most gods started off as humans, though the only one we know for certain this is true for is Kanako (and we know Suwako didn't).
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== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', The Dark One (god of goblinoids) and the Elven Gods were once ordinary mortals.
* ''[[The GodsofGods Arrof Arr-Kelaan]]'' were passengers on a spaceship ( {{spoiler|and the [[Space Pirates]] that attacked it}}) which crashed on a strange planet that's apparently in a different universe entirely. Long story short, they're [[Physical God|Physical Gods]] now.
* In ''[[Kagerou (Webcomic)|Kagerou]]'', the goddess Tcaolin fits this trope, which separates her from the other Old Gods.
 
{{reflist}}
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