Deity

"A god is the sum of all their believers, all the prayers and hopes and curses and despair ever uttered in their name. We are mirrors. We rule and reflect and magnify. We are just like you humans, only more so. We share your flaws and foibles. We are as humanlike as we are divine. We aren't perfect beings like the one you envision when you look at the cross."

- Hestia

Deities, also known as Pagan Gods, are a race of immortal supernatural entities, with each being a prime authority in the religion or pantheon that they established or belonged to.

They hold control over the forces of nature and the universe, possessing immense power, and have the duty to maintain the balance of the natural order.

Overview
"Powerful forces of nature and the cosmos in human forms. They are the principal objects of faith and worship in religions for eons until the arrival of the Abrahamic faiths that dwindled their control over the people."

- The Infernal Compendium

A deity is a supernatural being considered divine or sacred and is defined as "a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new levels of consciousness, beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life".

Religions can be categorized by how many deities they worship. Monotheistic religions accept only one deity (predominantly referred to as "God"), polytheistic religions accept multiple deities. Henotheistic religions accept one supreme deity without denying other deities, considering them as aspects of the same divine principle; and nontheistic religions deny any supreme eternal creator deity, but may accept a pantheon of deities which live, die and may be reborn like any other being.

Although most monotheistic religions traditionally envision their God as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, and eternal, none of these qualities are essential to the definition of a "deity" and various cultures conceptualized their deities differently. Monotheistic religions typically refer to God in masculine terms, while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways - male, female, hermaphroditic, or genderless.

Historically, many ancient cultures - including the ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Norsemen - personified natural phenomena, variously as either deliberate causes or effects.

Summary
According to Khaos, the gods have been in existence for millennia before their names were even uttered by their worshippers and cults and religions, with the primordial gods dated back since the Big Bang and the birth of the current universe itself.

The gods themselves are more than just mere heavenly bodies or natural phenomena, but rather they are the core aspects of the universe and of the Mortal World, ranging from abstract ideas to mundane thoughts to many, many more. They are the gods of antiquity, many of which don't even possess a name for themselves, who performed the act of rebuilding the universe and later the nations of the Earth after the planet had once again stabilized.

Over time, as the number of gods began to grow and human civilizations started to become more developed, the gods formed their own collective pantheons and religions among the humans, which attracted countless followers across the world due to their powers, which were used to bring forth both blessings and curses to mankind. Many of these new gods are as old as the oldest civilizations of mankind, such as Anu, Indra, and Osiris, and there have been multiple generations of gods sired by older gods, such as Artemis and Apollo (sired by Zeus), Ishtar (sired by Anu), or Thor (sired by Odin).

However, as humans developed and became more civilized throughout the ages, their dependence on the gods started to lessen, until one day, the gods became unneeded to mankind. The gods themselves lack the viability - the instinct to adapt to their surroundings to something better suited for their habitat like all normal living things - merely "existing" no matter their power. The viability of humanity was exceptional at the time, as though it was slight counting singular humans, their force in sheer numbers was high. They did not have any transcendent beings commanding the vast majority, but they had a higher level of intelligence than all other living beings that was distributed across all of them. This differed from the gods, no matter how powerful, whose acquired personalities were not much different from humans in their inventiveness and cognizance.

Though the gods were ancient and wise beyond human's understanding, each could only come to one conclusion and acquire one personality, which would remain the same for millennia unless tremendously severe and important events had happened to them in their immortal life, differing from the threat of the vast number of humans with their large amount of cognizance, their capacity for change. Their desires were boundless, relentless, and unrestrained, causing the world and the universe to evolve in accordance to their wishes, much to the gods' objections.

Nowadays, the gods are nothing more than mere figures of faith and worship, simply relics of an ancient time. Because of this, they began to lessen their influence over humanity and most of them have retreated back to the Divine World and reside in their respective cosmos, continuing to watch over the world and maintain its order from the background.

Appearance
Deities are depicted in a variety of forms, but are also frequently expressed as having a human form. Some faiths and traditions consider it blasphemous to imagine or depict the deity as having any concrete form. Gods that are found in many Indo-European traditions are anthropomorphic. The Mesopotamian gods, for example, are often envisioned as beings of tremendous physical size.

Similar to most supernatural beings, most gods appear a lot like normal humans to the point where they cannot be distinguished from them aside from their supernatural beauty and the divine presence they give off. Some gods, however, do appear as having animalistic or inhuman appearances, though this seemed to be more of a personal preference than their true appearance.

Despite being envisioned as full-grown adults by their followers, most gods tend to appear much younger than they really are, often varying from a teenager to a young adult depending on their personality.

To most mortals, however, gods are thought to be invisible or inaccessible to humans, dwelling mainly in otherworldly, remote or secluded and holy places, or in a supernatural plane or celestial sphere. According to Hestia, this is only partly true, as while they are inaccessible to most humans, this is because the mortal mind is too limited to comprehend the presence of powerful supernatural forces such as the gods.

Characteristics
They are commonly split into two main categories, those who are naturally-born gods and those who were reborn as gods. Those who are already a god since birth include the gods of heavenly bodies like the sun and moon, natural phenomena like storms, thunder, earthquakes, or others like the "power of the planet that stabilizes the surface of the Earth". Those who were reborn as gods are close to humans originally, but deviated from humanity through various factors to become objects of worship. According to Indra, one must have a pure soul, benevolence, and righteousness to become a god. Beings like heroes and messiahs that are "systems necessary to thrive" fall under the latter category.

Most gods of antiquity are part of the first category and are personifications of natural phenomena possessing intentions and personalities. They reign as the laws of heaven, controlling humans through supernatural feats that gained them both respect and fear from humanity. The second category, the gods of modernity, came to the forefront after their passing, their heroic deeds garnered them respect and reverence for centuries and granted them divinity from humanity.

They hold differing stances on certain events, and may be sectarian and be against other beliefs and religions, including rebelling against their own pantheon's belief. Normally, a god's main interest is looking after themselves and some have been known to betray other deities, some even their own pantheon, as soon as they receive a better offer. According to Hestia, gods by nature do not hold much loyalty to each other, except for - perhaps - other deities from the same pantheon and seem to have hostility toward deities from outside pantheons as they perceive them as possible danger toward their religion's influence. Despite this, it seems like all gods share a mutual dislike toward the Abrahamic religions, as they believe them to be the cause for their weakened religions and powers.

While gods by nature tend to be multifaceted and complex beings, though not on the same level as humans, they are often honest when it comes to their personalities and intentions and on whether they are good/benevolent gods or an evil god. According to Indra, such a thing is very important to how they are perceived by their followers and how their offerings and sacrifices will turn out, as gods who are more benevolent tend to gain greater sacrifices than those who are feared by mankind.

They are influenced by the will of humanity as a whole, not just of their followers. They can grow stronger and more powerful the more followers they have, gaining power from the prayers and sacrifices and offerings they gained, but can easily become weakened if their followers lose their faith toward them. There are also cases of gods becoming infamous as icons of terror, distorting their appearance through the human thoughts and ideals that formed them. According to Hestia, the gods of today are very much different in comparison to the gods of the Age of Gods, due to the humans' common belief of the gods being kind and benevolent entities because of the influence of Christianity, specifically because of Jesus Christ.

Oddly enough, not all deities live as pagans forever, and some end up converting to another religion that fits better to their own ideology and belief, as shown with the Greco-Roman goddess Iris who is considering converting to Buddhism. Some gods, often the Primordials, are even employed by the Abrahamic Heavens for various tasks, usually for the benefit of mankind and the balance of the natural order. In Chapter XXX, it was revealed that some of the gods are Angels, Fallen Angels, and Demons in disguise, who joined their respective pantheon for a variety of reasons, the main one being for the sake of personal entertainment.

Fading
Fading ( フェージング, Fējingu ) the process of gradually being forgotten by humanity and is the only way that immortal beings such as the gods can truly die. It is caused, at least partially, by the diminishing of a god's realm or people abandoning their belief in them. Gods that are not well-remembered or were never worshipped can also fade, though it seems that gods are able to resist fading on some level.

If a god loses their will to remain immortal or lose faith in themselves, it can have great influence on whether or not they fade. Pan, for example, sent out a message to tell the world he was dead, in the hope that he would be able to fade. However, the satyrs believed in Pan so strongly that he was kept from completely fading, meaning that beings are not always able to fade and can't choose when it will happen. In Chapter XXX, it was shown that a god can consciously give in to the process to speed up their fading process, though if a god already shows the first signs of fading, it will inevitably overtake them.

There are spells and rituals that can summon faded gods back into the living world, or at least, aspects of those faded gods. However, for those rituals to be successfully performed, these gods need a reason to exist, a feeling that they are needed among the living world again. If the gods are then remembered and made to feel important again, they would be fine and will be able to return to their old duties again.

Types of Deities

 * Primordial Deities ( 原始の神, Genshi no Kami ) are the first known gods to exist and have existed since the beginning of the universe. They are the progenitors and ancestors of their respective pantheon, and are considered to be some of the most powerful beings in the world.
 * Chieftain Deities ( 酋長神, Shūchō-shin ) are the highest deities in their respective mythological system. Due to this, they are - at least among - the most powerful of all deities, often possessing rare and incredible powers. They also possess an authority over the gods of their pantheon, which allows them to influence the mind of the gods within the same pantheon as them, with the exceptions being the primordial gods themselves.
 * Trickster Deities ( 道化師の神, Dōkeshi no Kami ) are gods who possess an endless craving for discord, mischief and mayhem. Despite being one of the rarest types of gods, they possess immense powers, capable of warping the reality around them to be beneficial to their desires for chaos.
 * Mother Earth Goddesses ( 大地母神, Daichiboshin ) are extremely powerful goddesses who possess the power of creation and a strong affiliation toward nature. In the purest sense, they are personifications of the cycle of life and death, and according to Khaos, "only when they have fulfilled the wishes of the world, leaving the planet for space and ending the infantile stage of intelligent lifeforms, will they no longer be bound to it".
 * Divine Spirits ( 神霊, Shinrei ) are commonly known as the "deteriorated spirits of gods who are forgotten by humanity", though that specific type of Divine Spirits are particularly rare. In most cases, Divine Spirits are the highest-ranked spirits and are on-par with several minor gods, and the term itself is usually used to refer to lesser personifications that are under the authority of greater gods. According to Hestia, most Divine Spirits are often employed by high-ranked gods as servants, handmaidens, or bodyguards.
 * Gods of Steel ( 鋼の神, Hagane no Kami ) are gods who embody the sword, consisted of mainly war gods and the heroes and villains that were immortalized through centuries (even perhaps millennia) of the idolization and admiration from mankind. Because of their mortal origins, these immortalized gods are much weaker than the average pagan deity, and could be defeated and slayed by the combined efforts of multiple trained and experienced warriors.

Quotes
"But gods are born of ichor and nectar, their excellences already bursting from their fingertips. So they find their fame by proving what they can mar: destroying cities, starting wars, breeding plagues and monsters. All that smoke and savor rising so delicately from our altars. It leaves only ash behind."

- Circe

"That was a god you just encountered. A real mythological god. The same gods you've read about in your mythology books. And they're every bit as powerful, grandiose, and dangerous as the legends make them out to be. Watch your back. Any one of them can flatten a whole city, or the world if they're in a really bad mood, in one swoop if provoked. They're egotistical like that, too."

- Carl Black

"Magic is in itself a form of religion, but there are powerful beings who can be considered as gods and goddesses. Herne the Hunter, Morrigan, Cernunnos, Epona are a few British deities just like Odin, Thor, Zeus, Hera, Isis, Osiris, etc. are deities of other times and countries. Even the more modern gods like the Christ, Buddha, Allah, etc. are powerful beings or representations of the ‘Uncaused Cause’ as the creator of all things is sometimes called."

- John Constantine

"Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on Earth? You pillage and you butcher in your god's name... but you're not the only religion, and he's not the only god. And now you think you can just rip the planet apart? You're wrong. There are billions of us, and we were here first. If anyone deserves to end this world, it's me."

- Kali

"When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance."

- Deuteronomy 32:8 - 9

Trivia

 * Gods are said to be prone to easily getting jealous and tend to harbor grudges for eternity.
 * The Olympian Gods are said to be notably fickle, lively, and irrational even among gods.
 * There are beings such as humans and monsters who despite not being born gods that are able to ascend into that status through completing various tasks.
 * Most gods have names who are indirect references to their domains, with few exceptions.
 * It's also unknown how a god discovers their domains and powers, suggesting that they might have an innate ability to tell so, the parents of a god may discover at their birth, or the god might learn about them within their immortal life.
 * Despite being known as the monotheistic god, the Abrahamic God isn't considered a deity in the same way as other pagan gods.