# How do I kill a god? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012 "2003-10-01T23:04:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/1 "2003-10-01T23:04:44Z")
…as in, a full-fledged deity, if not “the” God. Not yet, anyway. I’m biding my time. Now, of course, most religions naturally tend to shy away from describing how to slay their own almighty. But I’ve still managed to find a few, possible, methods… •[**Fenris**](http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/bldeffenris.htm) Not the doper, the Nordic Demon Wolf. Sired by Loki, Fenris is fated to kill and devour the god Odin. However, the Norse gods always _were_ a tad bit more “mortal” than other pantheons of gods, so there’s not necessarily anything special about Fenris’ killing of Odin. Besides that, even _controlling_ Fenris would be impossible. For a mortal human, at least. •\*\*[The Spear of Destiny\*\*](http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/meninblack/meninblackmag/Volume3/spear.html) The fabled weapon that supposedly pierced the side of Jesus, killing(?) him. It has the added bonus of being within relatively public access (Monday through Saturday, 9am-6pm. Free admission) at the Hofsburg Treasure House. If, of course, this is the real spear. But there’s always the problem of getting close enough to a god to pig-stick him or her with a shiv. But hey, nothing in life is perfect. And last, and probably least, • **Stop believing in the deity** Modern folklore holds as one of it’s central tenets that if you stop believing in something, it loses it’s power. This has been demonstrated to work against lesser supernatural creatures (Like Tinkerbell), and even deities (The Great Pumpkin). However, for this approach to work, you need the majority of the population to lose faith in, and abandon worship of, the target god. This process is likely to take thousands of years. If it happens at all. So…any other suggestions? Anything from fiction that might be useful, even? Ranchoth (Standing on top of a hill during a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor.) ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/2 "2003-10-01T23:26:19Z")
A pair of black soul stealing swords seemed to work quite well for Elric of Melnibone. But then again the swords themselves were either a god or demigod of Chaos (or maybe a god of the ballance that only seemed to be chaotic in nature). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/3 "2003-10-01T23:45:33Z")
OK, first it was vampire/zombie hybrids, then you wanted to capture a, um, live (?) zombie for Og only knows what nefarious purpose, now you want to kill a god. What is with you, **Ranchoth**? Planning to take over the cosmos or something? OK, you might want to check out Daffyd Ab Hugh’s novel _Heroing_, in which the heroine actually kills two gods (although, technically, she only banishes one of them.) One of the gods, a not terribly bright, but constantly hungry being named Taku Taku, she kills by somehow making contact with it on the heavenly plane, lures it to Earth with the promise of food, then tricks it into devouring its own earthly/corporeal manifestation, thus destroying it. Might be a fairly effective strategy for offing one of your less intelligent deities. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/4 "2003-10-01T23:48:44Z")
“To kill a God”, said Anya, “you use the weapon of a God.” ---
**Author:** ![Shiva418](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@Shiva418](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva418)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/5 "2003-10-01T23:51:01Z")
Well, Set was able to kill by tricking him into climbing into a coffin, then nailing shut and covering it with molten lead. Some time later, after Isis recovered the corpse of her husband, Set tore the body to pieces. Also, the Babylonian god Marduk killed the godess Tiamat by forcing a violent wind down her throat so that she then burst open. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/6 "2003-10-01T23:58:41Z")
Allerum, in the Bifrost Guardians series, used a magic sword that had a god imprisoned inside it. ---
**Author:** ![sk8rixtx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@sk8rixtx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sk8rixtx)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/7 "2003-10-02T00:41:49Z")
Shoot 'em in the brain. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/8 "2003-10-02T00:54:00Z")
How about a reflexive, derisive-yet-amused snort of laughter? The gods generally have a lousy sense of humor, and cannot abide being ridiculed or dismissed. Ignore 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/9 "2003-10-02T01:10:42Z")
Cross the streams. Hey, it worked in Ghostbusters. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/10 "2003-10-02T02:17:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > **Modern folklore holds as one of it’s central tenets that if you stop believing in something, it loses it’s power… However, for this approach to work, you need the majority of the population to lose faith in, and abandon worship of, the target god. This process is likely to take thousands of years. If it happens at all.** It may be easier than you think. As Terry Pratchett illustrated in _Small Gods_, an organized religion can become a self-serving entity where nobody actually believes in the god. They may believe in some symbol or the religious organization and its leaders, but not the actual god. Buffy has killed one god but I don’t remember the details too well. The Miyazaki anime _Princess Mononoke_ also depicts the killing of a god, but that god is more of a personification of nature. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/11 "2003-10-02T05:34:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*Buffy has killed one god but I don’t remember the details too well. \*\* Actually, Buffy only weakened her, and she had some help with that, courtesy of Xander and a well-placed wrecking ball. Giles finished her off. ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Dracul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/50afbb/32.png) [@Vlad\_Dracul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Dracul)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/12 "2003-10-02T05:38:57Z")
Didn’t I see this in a Thor comic a couple of years ago? A guy decided he hated gods so much that some cosmic force turned him into a god-destroyer? Anyway, since gods differ greatly from each other, you must first determine the specific properties of the god in question. Then you can develop a strategy to take advantage of his/her/its weaknesses. ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/13 "2003-10-02T05:51:43Z")
The preferred approach is to make them vanish in a puff of logic. But be careful not to blithely go on to prove black is white, lest a pedestrian crossing get your number. ---
**Author:** ![Inque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/50afbb/32.png) [@Inque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inque)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/14 "2003-10-02T10:19:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by scr4_ > \*\*The Miyazaki anime _Princess Mononoke_ also depicts the killing of a god, but that god is more of a personification of nature. \*\* “Now watch closely, everyone. I’m going to show you how to kill a god. A god of life and death. The trick is not to fear him.” ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/15 "2003-10-02T10:52:07Z")
Take it to the tev. ---
**Author:** ![Herge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Herge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herge)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/16 "2003-10-02T10:55:53Z")
To kill a god, you have to believe he exists. If you believe he exists then you have faith. If you have faith then you wouldn’t want to kill him. To kill a god, stop believing, lose your faith, then your god will not exist. Its all in the mind, anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/17 "2003-10-02T12:29:15Z")
Ask the Lady of Pain. She killed Aoskar, the god of portals, and several other gods that tried to enter her domain, Sigil. Eliminating the worshipers of the god with a plague, war, or a Destroyer (like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man) would weaken the god enough for Heroes armed with the best magic to kill it. Forcing the god to do something totally against its nature would work as well. This is like Kirk causing a computer to overload with his “logic.” The god may expire rather than do something alien to his experience. I think that the god-killer in the Thor comic series was called the Demogorge. He had mouths in his hands and sucked up all the gods that opposed him. I forget how Thor killed him, but it wasn’t looking too good for Thor for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/18 "2003-10-02T13:05:31Z")
This thread has been up for this long, and no one has mentioned… (wait for it) a 1920’s-style “Death Ray.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/19 "2003-10-02T13:09:42Z")
Stop believing in the god. If nobody believes, the god dies… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012/20 "2003-10-02T13:56:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Buffy has killed one god but I don’t remember the details too well. First, Willow weakened Glory by removing from her the mind essence/energy she had stolen from Tara. Then the Buffybot, armed with the Dagon sphere, fought Glory and softened her up. After Glory knocked Buffybot’s block off, Buffy herself went after her with the hammer of Olaf the “Troll-God.” Then Xander popped Glory with the wrecking ball. More beat-down from Buffy with the hammer until Glory reverted to her Ben form. Giles then smothered Ben to ensure Glory could never return to punish Buffy for thwarting her plan. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-god/205012.md?page=2)