Tropes and Cliches

World Building : Religions

So I'm going to outright say it...RELIGION IS COMPLICATED!!!! Why? Well, look at Christianity and its many branches. Some follow the Bible to the t while others pick and choose which parts they want to follow. And then there are how exactly should something be interpreted and the reason why so many people has challenge the church. Christmas came from an old Roman holiday, I think Saturnalia, and somehow spun the story of baby being born to a virgin...Yeah given the technology of the day I call bull but whatever. And according to google, Israel's deserts can dip into the 40s ( in Fahrenheit and also the average, so it could very well be below this) possibly colder back then, and no one questions it.

Sidenote: The main religion I'll be talking about is polytheistic, or multiple gods/ deities/spirits. Seeing how that's the main type of religion most works have, outside of the odd monotheistic religion that will be getting attention as well. Also this may be a bit long. Get comfy. ALSO, please take everything you're about to read with a grain of salt. Not everyone follows the same religion. And not everyone who are of the same religion follow the same set of , well for the lack of a better word at the moment, rules.

Religions in fiction often take from real religions, but changes them to fit a specific group or the overall world. For example, in the Last Airbender and by extension Legend of Korra, there are many religions from Asia ( Buddhism, Taoism,etc.) but can only apply to one region or group. The Water Tribes values balance and the ever noticeable, but only at a second glance yin-yang symbol is present. Even in the magic system, more on that later, can be seen within the Fire Nation. When there is an eclipse( whether it's lunar or solar), Water and Firebenders lose their ability to bend their respective elements.

Moving on from that look at Bayonetta, in keeping the them of balance, there is heaven, hell, and purgatory. The Witches have Hell, the Sages have Heaven. With Purgatory in the middle, they vowed never to let light and dark intersect, which it does through the title character, and then there's a guy named Jubilieus that get tossed in. And then a little later two more gods get tossed in called Aesir and Loki....It's complicated. You see, they have this thing called the "eyes of the world", that modern people interpreted as some sort of gem( but it's actually a person but minor details), that represent the eyes of the creator. The Umbra Witches had the left and the Lumen Sages had the right. And should one be destroyed or over lap, the end of the world shall come.
Now most religions answers three basic question : How the world came to be?, How we should act towards one another? and Where do we go when we die?

However, there are some that are very vague when it comes to answering things or they just pick one and just go from there. Also to reiterate RELIGION IS COMPLICATED. So a lot of things will become intertwined with it. Politics for example is a big one. Using Black Panther as an example, the Black Panther, when taking on the mantle as both ruler and protector of Wakanda, has both a physical challenge of defeating his or her ( yes her, there have been female rulers of Wakanda) opponent(s) because if you can't defend yourself, then you can't defend a country( my interpretation) and then the spiritual aspect of connecting to past holders of the mantle. And according to the comics, you're also the high priest of the Panther Cult....boss.

Sticking with this, Wakanda also has many gods ( aka a good chunk of the Egyptian pantheon ) but Bast is the main one worshiped in the main city vs the Gorilla tribe or out in the more rural areas where another god is worshiped. It depends on the region. So if the region is mostly agriculture expect an agriculture or fertility deity to be worshiped. Hell, the deity one worship can also depend on their job. Looking at real world example of Greece and their array of gods, a black smith may worship all the gods, but may mainly worship Hephaestus. Or a general may worship Athena and Ares, because let's be honest, brute strength can't win them all, you need a plan. And then there the aspect of large pantheons absorbing minor gods or synchronizing them with Christian Saints as a way to keep their identity....

Then there's the aspect of challenging the religion. Christianity is the main one I can think of, because again RELIGION IS COMPLICATED and this where monotheistic religions come into play. I will not stop repeating it. No one seems to question eating a piece of wafer and drinking "wine" that represent the blood and body of a prophet/ son of god ( go to the previous sentence to explain the wording) and see this as a bit cult-ish. Christianity is broadly split into three branches: Catholic, Protestant and (Eastern) Orthodox and from there divides into the many sects of the religion i.e Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian, Episcopal, so on and so forth. Through the history of this religion we had human doing things that should classify them as demigods, pope fights, and for whatever reason, burning people. Mostly because no one can agree with what the other thinks a sentence means. Judaism takes this and says, " This is what I got from that sentence...." and they agree to disagree and go about their day. But back to challenging teh religion. Now there is no right way to do it. Martin Luther wrote a letter and left it on the door ( figure of speech), some people just broke off and practiced it the way they though it was supposed to be. They all agree on the basics, after that it's up to interpretation.

Now how does one incorporate all this without a shit ton of exposition? The answer: the culture. Religion and culture often looped into the same category. Why? Well I can't give a straight answer with someone saying something else and then there's a whole debate in the comments and ain't nobody got time for that. But the best answer is to show how it affects ordinary people. Avatar the Last Airbender has two perfect examples, well they have a few but these are my favorites. The first one is Princess Yue, she was healed by the Moon Spirit because of an unknown illness she had when she was born, turning her hair white and being named for the moon. Another example is when they started talking about the first benders, something they expand upon in Legend of Korra but we're not talking about that, they talk about how the first benders where the Moon, badger-moles, flying bisons, and dragons and each one somehow effected part of their cultures. Firebends have a lot of dragon depiction in art and their clothing, the Moon have a sacred spot ( we know in the North Water Tribe they do not so much about the Southern), Badger-moles are depicted in art showing two people how to earthbend, and Airbenders having a sacred bond with the bisons.

I'm going to stop here and possibly do a part two to this because for the last time in the RELIGION IS COMPLICATED and there is a lot that can go into this. Like always, do your research, jot down notes, and have fun.