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Villainous Overview
The Dark Gods

The Dark Gods

Dark Gods are a common archetype found in fantasy settings - though similar beings can be found in other genres as well, it is especially common in a "Rage Against the Heavens" plot in which the hero(es) of a story must fight against the power of an evil and/or uncaring god (sometimes even God himself (see God as Satan).

Since there were no true gods of "evil" in mythology, the usual candidates for Dark God status in modern tales are gods of the underworld or pagan deities of considerable fame - this can be confusing when looking at the older myths as many underworld deities were benevolent and/or amoral, it is theorized a lot of the negative traits of death-gods in the modern mind stems from the way death has become a symbol of evil while in the past it was (largely) considered a natural part of existence.

Trickster gods are also common candidates for this archetype and indeed in real-world mythology a number of trickster gods have shown traits that can be considered malevolent - such as Loki and some varieties of the Coyote.

Dark Gods tend to be portrayed as keeping their divine status and role (unlike demons) and even though many Dark Gods display traits and abilities associated with demons they are normally still in contact with other gods and have people who worship them: in some settings however the term "demon" can apply to fallen gods just as it traditionally applied to fallen angels.

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