#blaspheme

Influence Ranks:

Local Influence:

Gods that have Local influence are the ‘weakest’ of them, having power that extends over, say, a single mountain or a location the size of a town, or covers a very specific aspect of reality (IE: Granath the Zombie God, or Cloacina the Roman goddess of sewers – through the widespread use of sewers has bumped her up a rank). 

Regional Influences:

This rank covers most pagan deities who have a region of the world under their sphere of influence.  This can range from a city-state (like Athens) to an empire (like the Roman one). 

Greater Influences:

As the great world religions, with a billion people following them on earth.  While their followers claim they created everything, they are simply sebaphages (Awe-eaters) who have grown in power and influence to span the globe. 

Fundamental Influences:

Here are the “True” Gods whose existence governs embodies aspects of reality or sapient thought.   Examples include the Ancient of Eternal Darkness, the Endless, and the Outer Gods. 

Being Type

Elder God/Great One/ True God

This ‘species’ of God is known as a “True” God in the eyes of occultists. This is what people think of when they consider gods.  They are largely humanoid in form (though exceptions exist) and are Sebaphages (Awe/Worship consumers), growing in power if they, or the thing they ‘represent’ is worshiped or revered.  If they don’t have enough of this, they tend to go dormant or unattached themselves from reality.

Great Old One/Old One/True Demon

These are alien beings of immense power that are worshiped, but do not actively need it.  They rarely have human forms, but can influence humanity even if they don’t want to. 

Outsider

Outsiders are beings from beyond this reality that did not influence it, nor its related alternate timelines, universes, and so on.  Outsiders are so far removed from the ‘natural order of things” that they break it down with their very presence.  This makes them an order of magnitude more alien and dangerous than a True God or Great Old One of equal measure.  They try to enter this reality and make it their own, and that makes them a threat to everything in this reality: God, Demon, and Squid.

Pantheons

Name: The Powers That Be Status: Active. Association: Tight Pantheon Rank: Greater Influence Being Type: Elder God The Powers that Be is a collective name for a group of deities, quasi-deities, and ascendant beings who monitor earth and human development. They generally adopt a non-interference policy with their regards in order to preserve free will.  Name: Valar Status: Inactive Association: Tight Pantheon Rank: Regional Influence Being Type: Elder God The Valar were a pantheon active thousands of years ago in the past but became so much part of the world that they became a part of it.  They can still be invoked to have an effect on things, but they are largely dormant.  Eru Illuvatar, the head of the Pantheon who helped sing the universe into creation, however, is apparently active, and maybe another name for the being simply called “God” (or it’s co-opting the worship, there’s a lot of debate about this point).  Eru Illuvatar is considered a Fundamental Influence.  Dark occultists consider him to be the head conductor of the song that keeps dread Azathoth asleep.

Name: Ancients Status: Active until 2000, then Inactive Association: Opposing Rank: Fundamental Influence Being Type: Great Old One These beings are important to the creation of reality, but also terrible horrors that want total control over reality.  At least, until a multiverse level trick was played on them and they largely destroyed themselves, though they retain that whole “That is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie” thing the Great Old Ones have.  There are 4 Ancients:  Chattur’gha, the great being of Matter, generates physical matter and flesh; Ulyaoth, the Master of the Planes, generates magical energy and spirits; Xel’lotath, the Goddess of Insanity, is a master of thoughts; and Mantorok, The Master of Chaos and greatest of the Ancients (until it was bound), works towards humanity’s benefit, but is chaos in the term of free will and choice.  There is a Fifth Ancient, but information on that being has been lost.  Name: Outer Gods Status: Active Association: Loose Rank: Fundamental Influence Being Type: Great Old One Similar to the Ancients, the Outer Gods help fundamentally shape reality, generally towards the negative.  They consist of Yog-Sothoth, who governs spacetime, Azathoth, the blind idiot whose dreaming is reality guided by the song of Eru Illuvatar, and Shub-Niggurath, goddess of fertility.  Their soul and active agent in the world is Nyarlathotep, who spreads madness where he goes, seemingly for the cruel amusement it brings the being. 

Name: Celestials Status: Active Association: Loose Pantheon Rank: Greater Influence Being Type: Elder God Giant armored beings, the celestials are unknowable beings that seem to spread sentience across the universe, seeding it among life where they can.  Why they do this is up for much debate, as they test, prod, and finally judge their creations for reasons of their own.  

Name: The Loa Status: Active Association: Loose Pantheon Rank: Regional Being Type: Elder God

Also called Mysteries or Invisibles, these are the Saints of the Voodun religion. They are served by their worshipers as tools of the "creative force" (Destiny of the Endless). As such, they demand respect whenever they are encountered, and if they perceive they are being slighted in any way or are not properly invoked, retribution may follow. There are three groups of Loa:

The Rada Loa are generally the older and kinder to humanity. They include Legba, Loko, Ayizan, Dhamballah Wedo and Ayida-Weddo, Erzulie Freda, La Sirene, and Agoueh. Their traditional color is white, though each Loa has its own individual color.

The Petro Loa are spirits that operate on extremes, though only occasionally aggressive and warlike. They include Erzulie Dantor, Marinette, Ogoun, and Kalfu (Carrefour). Their traditional color is red. The Ghede Loa are the spirits of the dead. They are traditionally led by the Barons (La Croix, Samedi, Cimitire, Kriminel), and Maman Brigitte. The Ghede as a family are loud, rude (only rarely to the point of real insult), sexual, and usually fun-loving. As those who have lived already, they do not fear death. Their traditional colors are black and purple.

Featured Beings: Papa Legba a.k.a. Alegba, Legba, Legba Atibon, Atibon Legba, Ati-Gbon Legba. Papa Legba is an intermediary between the Loa and Humanity. He is the first and last spirit invoked when dealing with the Legba. He is a Crossroads diety and largely neutral to events.

Name: Pharaonic Pantheon Status: Diminished Association: Tight Rank: Regional Being Type: Elder God The Pharonic Pantheon, like many old-world pantheons, has largely dissipated, with only few deities still gaining worship in recent times due to various occult orders and the rise of Egyptology. Without worship, most of the deities are no longer function on earth. In Goauld controlled space, however, where many of the creatures adopted the guise of the Egyptian gods, the worship continues and they occasionally answer the calls of their followers. Of these Osiris remains simply as an avatar of the entity called Death. And Ra has lost both his worshipers and his Ra-Tet, so it is doubtful that he will receive worship in this day and age. Bast, Goddess of Cats, was only an associate of this pantheon. Her feline worshipers were all she generally cared for, and she has largely active mostly into the Dreamlands.

Name: Olympian Pantheon Status: Overturned Association: Tight Rank: Regional Being Type: Elder God

Zeus is no longer in control of this pantheon, having been replaced by his son Hercules, as he replaced his own father, as his father replaced his grandfather in an endless cycle of power. Many of the old deities such as Janus and Hecate retain most of their positions, while others have been usurped by successor deities. Aradia, Hecate’s benevolent daughter, has stolen worshipers from the Witch-Goddess and is credited for the creation of Wicca. Thespia has taken over the role of Nyx as Goddess of night and darkness, but also of actors and plays. Hecate is especially active in the modern world, as she and the Hellboy are to play a pivotal role in the apocalypse of the Ogdru-Jahad.   Athena is the current leader of the Pantheon, having overthrown Zeus, with Hercules as her champion.  The entire Pantheon itself, however, is subservient to the Canaanite Pantheon

Name: Canaanite Pantheon Status: Active Association: Hierarchical Rank: Greater Being Type: Elder God

This is the Pantheon of the being simply known as “God” or Jehova, or Yahweh.  It was once a different form of pantheon, but one deity took it over and subdued, subsumed, or cast aside every other member of the pantheon.  And then beat several other local pantheons into compliance, or nearly destroyed them.  Or both.  These include the Greek, Norse, and Celtic Pantheons. They are allowed to operate largely on their own, but are subservient to the one who calls himself “I Am.”

Name: Vedic Pantheon Status: Active Association: Tight Rank: Regional Being Type: Elder God

This pantheon is one of the oldest, and with one of the largest numbers of worshipers on the planet despite their localized ranges.  They have managed to continue on despite pressure from different sides largely due to their ownership of several Magical Weapons of Mass Destruction.  It makes up for their lack of physical territory. 

Name: The Celestial Bureaucracy Status: Waning Association: Tight Rank: Regional Being Type: Elder God

The Celestial Bureaucracies are the gods and spirits of China.  Not really officially active in everyday Chinese life, but still subtly present in the culture.  Most of their survival comes in the form of stories and festivals, so they owe a great debt to The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who is probably best known simply as Monkey.

Name: The Endless Status: Active Association: Tight Rank: Fundamental Being Type: Elder God

The Endless are a group of beings beyond most deities and powers, representing universal concepts in anthropomorphic personification. Each one varies in personality greatly and as does the interaction with the human world.

Destiny appears as a Blind man and governs fate in his book. However, he does not claim to know the future, only what has happened, as it happens. At the end of all things, Destiny will be embraced by his sister: Death.

Death is the most human of the Endless, knowing more about life because of her position as ferry for those who die. She appears as a darkly dressed pale woman with her symbol: an Ankh.

Dream is another rather human Endless. He was once captured and held imprisoned, leading to a wave of sleeping sickness victims and rogue dreams from the 1930s to the late 1980s. He now has taken a different form, having to surrender the previous one to his sister Death. Dream is the ruler of the Dreamlands, which plays host to many other deities: some of the Great Old Ones live there, as well as personal deities and Great ones

Destruction is a prodigal Endless which can no longer be invoked, having grown sick of his post.

Desire is the twin of Despair; she governs want, but is continually unsatisfied and is often capricious and cruel. She appears as an androgynous, pale humanoid.

Despair is an obese, short, nude, grey humanoid with sharp teeth who is quietly intelligent and appropriately cold. Like Dream, she has changed form over time through Death.

Delirium is madness personified, and her aspects govern mystical lands such as Oz and the worlds briefly connected to Europe through small rabbit holes in the earth. She appears as a young woman with one green and one blue eye. Nothing else about her remains constant enough to fit a description. She was once Delight, but some traumatic event caused her to shift into her current role. This change of roles is largely related to the treatment of sentient life in the pursuit of pleasure. She is the youngest of the Endless. Name: Incan Pantheon Status: unknown Association: Loose Rank: Regional Being Type: Elder God

The Incan Pantheon was much like the early Roman pantheon, absorbing other deities into it. Sebancaya, a mountain god, was one of them. Since the dissolution of the Incan empire and the rise of Christianity, the deities have only been worshiped by their servitors and a few humans in small locations.

Name: Anito Status: Active Association: Loose Rank: Regional Being Type: Elder God

A coalition of nature spirits, gods, and ancestor spirits worshiped across the Philipines, with different deities and entities having greater or lesser sway.  They have a largely hands-off approach, but their desire for worship/energy brings them to our world.  In modern times, many have adapted to new technologies – like war gods running arcades where combat games are the main draw.  Who rules the pantheon varies by region, how they work together is currently unknown.

Name: Ancestral Spirits Status: Active Association: Loose Rank: Local Being Type: Other

Ancestor worship is a long-running theme throughout human civilization. Specific ancestors can only be called upon by those who are related to that group or connected to it somehow, otherwise, a great deal of placation would be needed to deal with them successfully.

Name: The Cthulhu Cult Status: That is not dead which can eternal lie and in strange eons, even death may die. Association: Loose Rank: Varies Being Type: Great Old One

Great Cthulu Is, Was, and Will Be Again. As the High Priest of many of the Great Old  Ones, his worship takes precedents over many others and those sleeping in his charge are considered ‘subordinate.’  Other Great Old Ones, such as Hastur the Unspeakable.  The true nature of this entity is hard to parse given many of the given sources are … suspect when it comes to other religious practices, but there are worshipers who commit atrocities.

Name: The Ogdru Jahad Status: That Which Is Not Dead… Association: Tight Rank: Greater Being Type: Old One

The Dragon of the Apocalypse who are trapped in ice deep within space, these monsters await the day Hellboy completes his destiny. They are Amon-Jahad, Adad-Jahad , Namrat-Jahad, Irra-Jahad, Nunn-Jahad, Beuu-Jahad and Nergal-Jahad. They are served by the Ogrdu-Hem. Mighty serpents of tremendous size. They range in power from beings like Lurconis and Olvikan to much more massive beasts.

Name: The Walkers Status: Active Association: Tight Rank: Local Being Type: Outsider

Heralds of an invasion of outsiders, the Walkers are three beings, each working to that end.  Each one is as insidious as the last. 

He Who Walks Beside (also known as “Nemesis”) infects and corrupts beings, granting them powers they should not have (be it magical potency or greater ‘free will’ for supernatural beings).  It saps, corrupts, and undermines efforts against the Outsiders.  This appears as living darkness.

He Who Walks Behind is a hunting horror.  Sent out to destroy those who who could oppose it.  And it is ALWAYS behind its target.  Turn to face it, and it will be behind you, no matter where you turn.  It can only be properly fought via its reflection. This being appears as a hulking brute.

He Who Walks Before is the herald.  The leader of the charge to bring forth the Outsiders and rip this reality apart.  It appears as a shark-faced ball of rags, where the rags are in truth tentacles.

Unknown Pantheons These deities have been referenced in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and other places, and are completely fictional as far as I can tell. Neisa: Neisa is a goddess of chance and fortune. As such, her whims are varied and unpredictable. Her followers are generally modern pagans. Oofdar: Oofdar is a minor goddess of childbirth from South America. Her effigy is often placed in hospitals to aid the pains of labor and drive off child-eating monsters. Granath the Zombie God: Those who invoke Granath can raise zombies of the mindless, undead slave variety. They all serve Granath as well as their master, and should there ever be a conflict of interest, Granaths wishes shall win out all the time.

Dinza, Dark Demi-Goddess of the Lost: Dinza is a demigoddess of lost things and those who are lost. Dangerous, cruel, powerful and unpredictable, Dinza has a very large collection of left socks in her lair.

Gozer the Gozerian: A deity of destruction and fire, Gozer takes the form of whatever its worshipers wish for it to take as the best method of destroying the city it has been summoned to. It last appeared in 1984, but was sealed in its dimension by the original Ghostbusters. People still worship it, but Gozer takes a long time to answer any prayer sent its way.

Nodens the Hunter is noted for hunting down demons and monsters (including lesser Great Old Ones)

Ntse-kaambl is of particular note as some occult scholars believe that the Slayers of earth are directly tied to either this goddess of Nodens.

Ariel is the pure truth for which little can stand against.

Karakal is a fire god of the dreamlands.

Lilith remains in the dreamlands and is proclaimed the god of vampires and succubae.

Robigus is titled the god of Fungus.

Tamash serves as the god of illusions.