God of Good

In many works, there is a God of Evil. An ultimate embodiment of evil that seeks to either spread unhappiness or kill as much as he/she wants.

This is the inverse of that, a deity that seeks to defeat evil and/or seeks to spread goodness. In most works with a God of Good, he/she will often (but not always) be the Big Good, guiding The Hero but not getting directly involved in his/her quest to defeat the Big Bad. In some cases, the god of good's role can be spreading good will or actively repairing that which has been tainted by evil or simply maintaining the world from plain old decay. It might seek to convert all to the setting's standard of goodness, warping hate into love, despair into hope, obsession into indifference where appropriate.

There is a tendency for Gods of Good to be female rather than male. Also, Beauty Equals Goodness (and by proxy Hot God) tends to come into play with this trope.

In many works, there is a conflict between the God of Good and the God of Evil. Often, as a take-off of Satan, the God of Evil is a rebellious underling of the God of Good.

Not in any way to be confused with God Is Good, which is when there is a single god who is good (though in most monotheistic faiths, God is given this title, and many others like it, so He actually still counts).

To avoid Flame Bait and Edit Wars, note that this trope isn't about gods who simply are good, it's about gods of goodness. Gods who are nice but mostly defined by other qualities do not qualify. If the god can, by the setting's definition, do evil without contradicting their very being, they don't count.

Examples of God of Good include:

Comics

Religion and Myth

  • In Christianity, Islam, Judaism and others, God is often referred to as God of Mercy, God of Love, God of Justice etc. And yes, sometimes God of Good or Goodness. Of course, he's the God of pretty much everything, but these are perhaps his most frequently invoked titles.
  • Japanese Mythology: Izanagi. He and his wife Izanami created the Japanese islands, but he became the god of life while Izanami became a goddess of death. Izanagi also sired Amaterasu (the sun), Tsukuyomi (the moon) and Susanoo (storms). He seems pretty close to god of good.
  • Greek Mythology: While most of the gods were fickle, ready to change their mind at a drop of a hat, Prometheus always acted on man's behalf, even if it causes him to suffer.
    • Hestia. Not only is she the most benevolent of the Olympians, she also rules over the hearth and family. As far as greek philosophers were concerned, the Sun god (Helios or Apollo) was this, though mythology depicts him quite differently...
  • Ra in Egyptian Mythology. Really, the whole mythology is essencially Protagonist-Centered Morality in regards to him, with his enemy Apophis being the only deity considered truly evil (even if Set was demonised).
  • Wadd from pre-islamic arabian mythology. He was the god of friendship.

Tabletop Games

  • Dungeons & Dragons has quite a few of these. Strictly speaking, a God of Good must have Good in his or her domain.[1]
    • 4E's core pantheon has four of them - Bahamut, Pelor, Avandra and Moradin.
    • 3E's core pantheon had Heironeous, Moradin again, Yondalla, Pelor again, Garl Glittergold, Ehlonna, Corellon Larethian and Kord.
    • From Dragonlance: Branchala, Habbakuk, Kiri-Jolith, Majere, Mishakal, Paladine, Solinari
    • From the Forgotten Realms (and there's quite a list of them!): Chauntea, Lathander, the late Mystra, Selune, Sune, Torm, the late Tyr, Bahamut again, Mielikki, Tymora, Deneir, Eldath, Lliir, Lurue, Milil, and a host of others in other lands of Toril.

Video Games

Web Comics

  • There was a Goddess of Good in Sluggy Freelance who ruled over the not originally evil Dimension Of Pain. She got beaten and bagged by the resident God of Evil before Torg freed her.

Western Animation

  1. ↑ A domain is literal or metaphysical field the god has complete mastery of, a God of Fire would have a domain of Fire, etc.
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