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{{trope}}
[[File:
▲[[File:220px-Skadi_Hunting_in_the_Mountains_by_H__L__M_9296.jpg|frame|Meet Skadi, goddess of... skiing. No, [[Norse Mythology|she is not made up]]. [[Truth in Television|Seriously]].]]
{{quote|''"They invaded Greece and conquered them and and stole all their gods and renamed them with Roman names. Cause the Roman gods before that were kind of crap, you know, Jeff, the god of biscuits. And Simon, the god of hairdos. And uh, you know, they had the god of war, the god of thunder, the god of running around and jumping and stuff."''
|'''[[Eddie Izzard]]''', ''Dress to Kill''}}
It is good to be [[
Well, not quite. You see, as cool as it is to be [[Anthropomorphic Personification|Patron Saint of Soldiers, the god of Thunder or the demonic representation of lust]], not everyone in the [[Celestial Bureaucracy]] [[Divine Ranks|can be bosses]]. Some mythologies decide to tie up the loose ends and lump in minor responsibilities with the major, producing gods with an [[Combo
That is when the [[Odd Job Gods]] start to act.
Sometimes averted by giving your existing gods [[Combo
▲Sometimes averted by giving your existing gods [[Combo Platter Powers|additional domains]], though that way you end up with gods of, say, mountains, earthquakes and [[Flight Strength Heart|apples]]. Also, while most of these domains may seem unimpressive when taken at face value, it could be [[Rule of Symbolism|highly symbolic]] or [[Heart Is an Awesome Power|more complex]]. Regardless of the complexities of their powers, it still would not be a good idea to [[Do Not Taunt Cthulhu|tease them about it.]] Not to be confused with, though sometimes goes with, [[God Job]]. See also [[Painting the Frost On Windows]] and [[Magical Underpinnings of Reality]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Ah!
* In another
* In ''[[Kamichu]]'', a very shinto-derived series, you even see gods for empty aluminum cans, ice cream bars, and cheap grocery store mascots.▼
▲* In another shinto-inspired example, ''[[Spirited Away]]'' includes entities such as the alleged Stench Spirit, and the Radish Spirit.
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', [[Chef of Iron|Sanji]] brings up this phenomenon in order to encourage [[Lovable Coward|Usopp]], since they're on their way to defy and confront "God Enel" of Skypeia. A rough quote:
{{quote|
▲* In ''[[Kamichu!]]'', a very shinto-derived series, you even see gods for empty aluminum cans, ice cream bars, and cheap grocery store mascots. And the god of being poor.
* Some of the Legendary [[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]] can be pretty weird when compared to the others. Like, Arceus is a Creator Deity, Lugia is a god of the sea, Palkia and Dialga control Time and Space, and then there's Hoopa who... Creates magical hoops. Yeah. Even admitted [[Caustic Critic]] PhantomStrider doesn't pull punches in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZawLx_SSw his review here], bluntly stating that "Hoopa is a ''stupid'' Legendary."
== Comic Books ==
* ''[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Sandman]]'' we meet Pharamond, from the Babylonian pantheon, who is now "in charge of transportation." He appears to be more or less a travel agent for the puissant.
** He, in fact, managed a massive transportation firm.
** With the fringe benefit of being able to count road traffic deaths as sacrifices in his name. He was quite happy with his new place in the order of things.
* In ''[[Lucifer (
* A [[Donald Duck]] comic featured him taking odd jobs as the god of, among other things, cars and television. He managed to botch the job so badly he sent Duckburg's technical prowess back to the 17th century.
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== Film ==
* [[Spinal Tap]]'s David St. Hubbins' surname is derived from the patron saint of quality footwear.
** Note that the actual saints of footwear are the duo [
* In the short film ''A Case of Spring Fever'', our protagonist encounters Coily the Spring Sprite, a seemingly-omnipotent being (or at least a high-powered [[Reality Warper]]) that has an odd preoccupation with springs.
{{quote|
== Literature ==
* [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[
** Such "modern deities" as Television, the Internet, Consumer Culture, Cancer, and the Car Gods (the recipients of the largest mass [[Human Sacrifice]] since the Aztecs.)
** The Spookshow, those [[The Men in Black|anonymous suit-wearing government agents]] who everyone believes exist...[[Your Mind Makes It Real|so they do]].
* ''[[
** Aniger, the minor goddess of squashed animals (growing in power as carts get faster and roads get smoother and more people cry out, "Oh gods, what was that I hit?!"), possibly connected to Herne The Hunte''d'', God of things destined to live short lives ending in a crunch.
** Anoia, minor goddess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers {{spoiler|formerly a volcano goddess}}...who is heading up; she's currently tapped to be the new Goddess of Lost Causes, a growth industry on the Disc.
** Bilious, the ''oh God'' of Hangovers, whose newfound existence allows the God of Wine to drink as much as he likes and never get a hangover (and incidentally allows humans with the same trait to do it too) {{spoiler|eventually decides to do freelance godding for any gods that want to take a break.}}
** Errata, the Goddess of Misunderstandings (from ''[[
** The heroic dog who stole the [[MacGuffin|Tsortian Falchion]] and became the god of Unnecessary Subplots In Legends.
** Nuggan, the {{spoiler|recently deceased}} God of Paperclips, Correct Things in the Right Place in Small Desk Stationery Sets, and Unnecessary Paperwork
** The God of Evolution. Who is an atheist.
** Bastet, god of things left on the doorstep, things half-digested under the bed, and [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|computers that cheat]] at ''[[
*** This may be a digression, but this character is a cat goddess from the [[Real Life]] Ancient Egyptian mythological pantheon. The cat part may explain the things left on the doorstep and half-digested under the bed.
** And also the Hogfather, the god of Hogswatch. Oh, and the sunrise.
** And that's just in the mainstream pantheon. Don't even mention oddballs like Ptang-Ptang and Quetzovercoatl ... or even ''think'' about Djelibeybi.
** Lampshaded in ''[[
** Another Lampshading in ''[[
** And in ''[[
** Small gods are what are created when random events occur (
** Played with when the Oh God of Hangovers decides to become sort of relief for other gods, temporarily taking over for them when they want a holiday, and sort of inverted when there's mention of a freelance priestess (no mention of how she does business; maybe Anoia pays her in cutlery?)
* Saint Vidicon of Cathode on ''[[Warlock of Gramaraye]]'' series by Christopher Stasheff. The patron saint of technicians and engineers. Saint Vidicon's symbol is a yellow screwdriver worn in the shirt pocket. In a later book, his history was revealed - he was martyred when he used his body to close an electrical circuit, allowing a speech by the Pope to make it to air and save the Catholic Church from obsolescence.
* [[L. Sprague
* The Bastard from the ''[[Lois McMaster Bujold|Chalion]]'' series. The only god not associated with a season, his domain is all things out of place: demons, children born out of wedlock (obviously), [[Ho Yay|odd loves]], disasters, and unorthodox justice. He also takes the souls of those not devoted to any of the other gods.
* In the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' crossover ''Finder's Bane,'' a god residing outside the Realms (which has, or used to have, [[Loads and Loads of Characters|Loads And Loads Of Gods]]) comments that "We wouldn't be surprised to find they have a god there with dominion over the tableware and ale mugs."
* ''[[Tortall Universe]]'': Tamora Pierce's series of books set in universe has the big gods, like Mithros (war and justice), and the Goddess (fertility, women, agriculture), but it also has minor gods like Weiryn (god of the hunt for a small mountainous area), and rather hilariously a god of [[At the Crossroads|crossroads]], not a god of travelers, just a god of actual crossroads.
** That's not funny, that's perfectly sensible. Crossroads are mystically heavy hitters; the loa Legba has dominion over them in voudoun.
* Glen Cook's ''[[Garrett
* In ''[[Journey to
* The ''[[Liavek]]'' anthologies had Bree Amal, Goddess of Keepers of Disorderly Houses, and Ghologhosh, god of unmeant curses.
* ''Split Heirs'' by Lawrence Watt-Evans give us a God of Misused Things.
** Which might be extremely influential nowadays.
* In Barry Hughart's ''[[Bridge of Birds|The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox]]'', Master Li has to appeal to Heaven to replace the lost patroness of prostitutes; a prostitute discusses the possibilities with him.
* Mentioned in passing to convey Aerin's experience climbing the apparently perpetual tower to the [[Final Boss Battle]] toward the end of [[The Hero and The Crown]]; she concludes she has been climbing forever, and will be climbing forever, and might become a sort of minor god, the God Who Climbs, comparable apparently to the 'God Who Isn't There,' which is the shadow god at noon.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'': The Goddess of Fortune mentions that if word gets out about how badly she screwed up she could be made the Goddess of Dirt.
* ''[[Perfect Strangers]]'' mentions the Mypiot god of windows cleaning.
== Newspaper Comics ==
* ''[[Dilbert]]''
** The Demon of Demos.
** Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light, the ruler of Lower Heck. He punishes people (usually Dilbert) for minor infractions not worthy of damnation in hell, such as using copier paper for the printer or stealing a chair from another cubicle.
** Thor appears to Dogbert offering him a job as one of these, promising further career advancement (Thor himself claims to have started out as the God of Static Cling). Dogbert then accepts the position of "God of Velcro". And he signed Dilbert up for the God of Mayonnaise.
== Recorded and Stand Up Comedy ==▼
▲== Stand Up Comedy ==
* [[Eddie Izzard]] did a bit about the influence of the Greek gods on the Romans, saying that originally the Romans had rather crap gods such as Jeff the God of Biscuits, and Simon the God of Hairdos.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[
** Caliban, the Demon of Anorexia
** [[w:William McGonagall|Maigonigal]], the Demon of Bad Art
** Tomas, the Angel of Catchy Tunes
** Zuheyr, the Angel of Cleanliness
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** Stander, the Demon of Embalming
** Karne, the Demon of Fast Food
** Imbap, the Demon of Stale Bong Water, who serves as an object lesson to Demons: Don't pester Lucifer for a Word because [[Be Careful What You Wish For|he may just give you one]].
* In the tabletop RPG ''[[Exalted]]'', everything has a god. ''Everything.'' From concepts like love, taxes, and urban metropolises, to physical places and objects like crop fields and even ''individual rocks''. Generally speaking, gods of concepts and abstracts outrank those of concrete things and places. Gods of thing smaller than say, a large building, tend to not be sentient.
** One of the sentient and powerful ones is [[Nice Guy]] Nara-O. His title is officially "God Of Secrets Known To Only One", and has a [[Mummy|cool appearance]] to match that title. Now, ask yourself-what are the kind of secrets you don't want to tell others, for their sake? One imagines the other gods have a betting pool on how much [[Brain Bleach]] in gallons he buys every other day.
*** [[Fridge Logic|Of course]], if he personally knows all the secrets otherwise only known to one other individual, wouldn't that ''actually'' make him the "God Of Secrets Known To Only Two"?
**** Maybe it's more "God of Secrets Known To Only Him," so secrets that no one else would know yet or were [[Riddle for
** One artifact from a splatbook is a prayer stone keyed to one specific goddess, whose entire purpose is to receive and relay messages made on this stone. She is immensely reliable because she's that desperate to have something to do. Not to mention that the stone has been lost since the Golden Age, making for one terminally bored goddess.
* ''[[Dungeons
** In ''[[Greyhawk]]'':
*** Wastri, the god of human-supremacist bigotry. And for some reason, also frogs.
*** Zagyg, the god of [[Cloudcuckoolander|
*** The beholder god of gases.
*** Murlynd, god of [[Magitek|"magical technology"]]. This wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't obviously a
** In ''[[Mystara]]'':
*** Buglore, the god of insects.
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** Ghlaunder, god of insects and parasites.
** Zarongel, goblin god of [[Serious Business|dog-killing]], fire, and mounted combat.
* In the ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] Fantasy'' universe, there's Necoho, the god of atheism. [[Logic Bomb|He gets more powerful as he loses followers.]]
* ''[[Warhammer
* This is sort of the whole point of ''[[
* ''[[Magic:
* ''The Primal Order'', by Wizards of the Coast, is a sourcebook full of ideas and rules on how to handle deity-level action in fantasy games. Their two
== Video Games ==
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** Well, fleas ''were'' the bringers of the Black Death...
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' you can find along the many pantheons Stuhn (God of Ransom).
* Most of the gods of ''[[City of Heroes]]''
** And then it became possible for player characters to snatch a little divine power for themselves, without having to declare what they were now (incredibly weak and minor) gods ''of''.
* In the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series, any item can be entered like a dungeon; (this is called an Item World.) If that item has a "legendary" trait; then this Item World is 100 levels deep. It has generals, kings, and at the end of level 100; an item god. You are encouraged to go through these and kill them all; as it powers that item up for you. So you can kill the Item God of a sword, piece of armor, used piece of chewing gum, [[Gag Penis|detached horse penis]]...
* ''[[Okami]]'' features gods of assorted elements, rejuvenation, explosions, cutting, the Sun and Moon, and Kabegami, the god of ''walls''. The game is based on Shinto, which has rather a lot of gods. When one wishes to refer to all of the Shinto gods collectively in Japanese, one speaks of "the eight million gods".<ref>And that's not a strict limit, either. "Eight million" is an archaic Japanese euphemism for "a vast, possibly infinite number", the same way forty is used in the Bible.</ref>
* ''[[Touhou Project]]'''s Gensokyo, being a [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]], with a sizable emphasis on Shintoism, has a number of low-power goddesses. Including Shizuha, the goddess of ''dead leaves''.
* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games features numerous
** Others include, but are not limited to: Kudan, a human-headed cow that is born to issue a single prophecy of disaster and then dies, the Hare of Inaba, who was skinned for his insolence, Mamedanuki, a sort of raccoon dog capable of transforming its scrotum into useful objects, and hell, even the friggin' Chupacabra.
* ''[[Jade Empire]]'' features a [[Celestial Bureaucracy]] that tracks the actions of the heroes. At one point, a god appears to you and chews you out for wreaking so much destruction; his job was to tabulate your karma, and he was so ill-suited for the task he was demoted. So now he sells you trinkets.
* In the [[Roguelike]] ''[[Dungeon Crawl]]'', you can choose to worship one of your standard gods of magic, war, death, growth, healing, good, evil, etc. You can also worship Jiyva, god of slimes <ref>who only is only worshipped by a single super-intelligent jelly, and, since [[Gods Need Prayer Badly]], if you kill that jelly you actually [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|commit deicide]]
* The procedurally generated deities of ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' sometimes fall into this. The game may, for instance, generate a god of ''salt''. Sometimes these deities can get [[Flight, Strength, Heart]] as well; it's perfectly plausible to find a god of death, war, murder and... '''rainbows'''.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* The fal'Cie of ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]''. Sure, you had fal'Cie who did important things like producing food or acting as the sun. But some fal'Cie had less important tasks like... operating automatic doors.
* In ''[[
* In the ''Battle for Azeroth'' expansion of ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', you will eventually come across Jani, a powerful loa who claims to be "da Patron of Scavengers, da Lord of Thieves, da God of Garbage, Master of Minions, and da Keeper of Secrets." She also has a far-less approachable enemy, who is a goddess of ''spiders''.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', the Fat Chocobo is a Ritual entity associated with Fertility and Luck; it's also a huge, giant chicken. After you defeat it in the VR simulation (which gives you the ability to Summon it) Chadley remarks that this creature is proof that the [[Powers That Be]] have a sense of humor.
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' there is a separate [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] for every way anybody has ever died, including such infrequent events as [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/244.html Death of Being Sat On By A Giant Frog], [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/268.html Death of Choking On A Giant Frog] and [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/392.html Death of Being Ground By A Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool]. The less-likely Deaths are desperate for promotion.▼
** And [https://www.irregularwebcomic.net/653.html Death] of Being Wrestled To Death By [[Crocodile Hunter|Steve]].
▲* In ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' there is a separate [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] for every way anybody has ever died, including such infrequent events as Death of Choking On A Giant Frog and Death of Being Ground By A Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool. The less-likely Deaths are desperate for promotion.
* ''[[
** They were actually Banjo
* [http://www.succubus-justice.com/firstie%20page.htm These] [http://www.krakowstudios.com/archive.php?date=20061017 webcomics] as Sympathetic Ineffective Villains who use the same office technology we do.
* Uncle Time from ''[[
* ''[[The
** Worth noting that despite this Ronson is the head of the traveler pantheon.
*** ''Because'' of this, rather. A light touch and a disinterest in taking sides in their power plays turn out to be pretty good qualities for "governing" the Gods.
* ''[[Something
* Played with in [https://web.archive.org/web/20130705185154/http://partiallyclips.com/2002/12/27/canoe-in-storm/ this] ''Partially Clips'' strip.
* [http://mountaincomics.com/2011/10/27/mountain-time-307/ The God of Good Posture]: good at standing, and proud of it.
* In ''[[8-
* One ''[[Nodwick]]'' story featured a Goddess of Peeping Toms, who ironically, [http://comic.nodwick.com/?comic=2012-02-07 was often the victim of them.]
== Web Original ==
* The [http://shireroth.org/shirewiki/Divine_Census_of_Cedrism Divine Census of Cedrism] includes such oddities as B'Caw, God of Spicy Chicken, and Mog, God of Political Blunders. Even the relatively normal gods have bizarre sides (the god of warriors and soldiers is also the patron god of "guys with long hair")
* In the
{{quote|
* And [http://www.generatorland.com/glgenerator.aspx?id=59 this] allows you to generate such gods.
== Western Animation ==
* One of the most powerful characters in ''[[The Tick (animation)|The Tick]]'' is The Mighty Agrippa, Roman God of the Aqueduct. According to the series canon, he
* On ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (
* In the ''[[Earthworm Jim (
* A very early episode of ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'' had the boys meet up with Sterculius, the God of Feces at a monster truck show. [
* The versatility of the Greek gods is lampooned in the first episode of ''[[Krapopolis]]'':
{{quote|'''Delirium:''' Ah, Athena, Goddess of… oh, what’s the list up to now, war, over-the-top outfits and daddy issues?}}
:* Of course, Delirium herself is the Goddess of Likability, an irony, seeing how she’s so incredibly rude.
== Real Life ==
* [[Ancient Egypt]] had household gods that were pretty much like this. Given the sheer size of their pantheon, it's no wonder that the [[ancient Egypt]]ians had a lot of these, including:
** [[Ancient Rome]] had them too. They were called lares, and most houses had a small shrine called a lararium. For ordinary Romans, they were typically the most important gods, as well.▼
** Nefertem, the god of the sunrise and the morning sun, but also perfumes and lilies.
** Iabet, the goddess of the east.
** Sopedu, the god of the east.
** Hu, the god of the voice of authority.
*** Which may lead to many [[Who's
** Seker, the god of the necropolis of Memphis, and of the craftsmen who built tombs there.
** Mafdet, the goddess who protects people from snakes and scorpions.
** Tayet, the goddess of weaving and mummy bandages.
** Satet, the goddess of the south and the annual Nile flood (a phenomenon essential to Egyptian life).
** Ihy, the god of [[Combo
*** They really do go together, though.
** Shay, the god of destiny.
** Qadesh, the goddess of ecstasy. (originally a Syrian goddess)
*** Yes, it's [[Stargate SG
▲
* Catholicism has a long tradition of appointing Saints with job descriptions often based on what they did in real life. In many cultures syncretism has taken this to extremes, with local deities assuming the personality of saints, and vice versa. Including one of whom we should take note: St. Clare of Assisi, the Patron Saint of
** Even more so - St. Nicholas is the patron saint of, basically, everyone. (The list includes children, sailors, fishermen, merchants, the falsely accused, prostitutes, repentant thieves, pharmacists, archers, and pawnbrokers.) If you are ever unsure of which Christian saint to pray to, [[Santa Claus|just use him.]]
** Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized (a New Yorker, natch) is, according to this humorous [http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/saint-finder-of-keys/ site], "official" patron saint of parking spaces. However, St. Therese of Lisieux is listed as a rival there, and [https://web.archive.org/web/20081011234647/http://www.friscovista.com/news/2006/12/28/dont-follow-leaders-and-watch-your-parking-meters/ this site] lists yet others.
** The Catholic Church also has a habit of just squinting and adding to a popular saint's portfolio if they can vaguely justify the connection. Thus, you have St. Joseph (Jesus' adopted dad) being the patron saint of fathers and social justice (among others), St. Matthew (writer of the first book of the New Testament and a former tax collector) being the patron saint of tax collectors and stock brokers, St. Isidore of Seville (he wrote an encyclopedia in the seventh century) now patron saint of computers and the Internet<ref>Not "officially" (the Holy See has not spoken on the issue), but he was voted as such in an Italian poll</ref> and St. Thomas Aquinas (noted Catholic theologian) standing for learning but somehow against lightning.
*** And St. Jude (mentioned in the bible as "the apostle called Jude who was
*** Also St. Anthony, the patron saint of finding lost things.
*** The winner of this unfortunate competition is probably St. Drogo, patron saint of bodily ills, broken bones, hernias, sick people, insane people, ugly people, orphans, shepherds and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|coffee shop owners]]. And no, [
***One of the more interesting of them is Joseph of Cupertino, Patron of [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Astronauts, Aviators and Poor Students.]] He was kind of an oddity. From all descriptions he was almost certainly autistic and he could not have survived anywhere in 1683 except a palace or a monastery (which is in fact where he grew up). His patronage of Astronauts and Aviators comes from stories that he levitated ([[Your Mileage May Vary|Whatever]]). Actually the poor fellow sounds like a rather miserable boy from all descriptions.
** In fact, the syncretistic aspect of the Catholic Church's patron saints is what made Vodun and Santeria possible as viable religions
* Shinto believes that essentially all items have a spirit or god.
** Notable, and very popular Shinto deity Inari - god of fertility, industry, success, agriculture, rice and um, foxes. Was the patron kami of blacksmiths and warriors - currently accepted by the cosmetics company Shiseido as their patron kami. Bit of an all-round god.
** ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' loves this fact. All the gods listed under their entries in Video Games? Real.
* [[Ancient Rome]] had Cloacina, god of sewers; goddesses of doorways/hinges, menstruation and weeding; and many others. Like rust. Good story here: Cloacina was the goddess of a stream that ran through where Rome is now. Eventually, this stream was paved over and made into the sewer. As a sort of apology and thanks to her, there were lots of little shrines to Cloacina; eventually, she became the general goddess of sewers.
** The Romans also had Vometia, goddess of [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Aztec Mythology]] had a few gods like this. One quite unusual assortment included vanity, fog, and fame, ruled over by Ayauhteotl.
* Mike Judge didn't make up the Sterculius character mentioned in Western Animation. There actually was a Roman god called Sterquilinus who was God of Manure.
* Chinese mythology, being a [[Celestial Bureaucracy]], has plenty of these, too, including:
** the god of oil lamps, who nearly caused [[The End of the World
** the god of ovens, who has the secondary job of spying on the household to report good and bad deeds (and would thus have to be bribed often with sweeties to keep his mouth shut).
** the god(s) of doorways, occasionally said to be the spirits of ancient fearsome warriors.
* Pre-islamic Arabia had Wadd, a god of snakes, the Moon and friendship.
* Not a saint recognized by the [[Catholic Church]], but [
* [[Greek Mythology|The Greeks]] liked to append random attributes to Apollo, which eventually made him god of "light and the sun; truth and prophecy; medicine, healing, and plague; music, poetry, and the arts; and more" according to Wikipedia.
** Hermes was nearly as versatile, being god of messengers, travelers, merchants, thieves, sports, commerce, shepherds, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|weights and measures]].
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** Bragi, god of poetry
** Skadi, goddess of skis.
*** Actually, Skadi was the goddess of winter, which ''included'' skis.
* [[Chinese Mythology]] has Guan Yu, the God of War, legendary hero, protector of all of China, champion against demons, and once one of the most popular gods among all the classes. He is also the patron god of bean curd (tofu) since before he became a warrior he was a bean curd merchant. More important than it sounds since bean curd has traditionally been an important food in China.
** China also has Wenchang, Taoist god of literature, writing, and education- and the god you pray to for help passing your exams. Given the importance of the imperial examinations- which determined who got a government job and basically were the only means of social mobility most of the time- it's not that surprising that there was a specific god for it. (In modern times, scallions seem to be a popular offering.)
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Native American Mythology]]
[[Category:Religion Tropes]]
[[Category:
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