What exactly is a god in MU?

[Doom'nGloom]

This is a question which has been bothering me for some time. Characters like Odin, Thor, Loki are called gods. Storm is said to be a god with writers not fully committing to it. Wanda was touched by an elder god which currently resides in her. Oh and her son Wiccan is said to birth elder gods if I understand it correctly. Then there are some cosmic characters like Silver Surfer who can tangle with most gods in marvel. Then we have Franklin Richards who can create universes and canonically outlives everything else and even survives the death of the current cosmos. So what exactly is a god in marvel? Is there some criteria to it? Or can anyone sufficiently powerful be given the title? If so why characters like Silver Surfer and Franklin Richards are not considered gods when less able characters are?

[Ultimate Captain America]

Exodus 20:3: "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

[kevlon]

I liked US Agents speech to Hercules about gods if anyone has a scan of it.

Can't anyone become a god? All you need is power and some suckers to worship you? Seems like anyone can be a god.

Someone like Nova can fly off to a less developed planet and then claim to be a god. He'd probably be worshipped by the savages. Would that classify him as a god? He did used to hear voices in his head if that helps....

[Kaitou D. Kid]

Thor/Loki/Odin are essentially aliens from another dimension. Aliens with significantly stronger physiologies and lifespans. That's about it.

[Quill-Han-Vos]

Stan Lee to Jack Kirby : "Let's make the Fantastic Four meets God." (or something like that)

And that basically became the Galactus Trilogy (and then the FF really met God at the end of the Waid/Wieringo run, and he happen to looks just like one of their creators).

[MaximoffTrash]

Thor/Loki/Odin are essentially aliens from another dimension. Aliens with significantly stronger physiologies and lifespans. That's about it.

Marvel's Earth Gods are well, born and created on Earth, they are direct or indirect descendents of Earth's Elder Gods, so not really aliens.
For those certain types of gods, they are unique in the sense that they are mortals' story given form and flesh.

[Doom'nGloom]

I liked US Agents speech to Hercules about gods if anyone has a scan of it.

Can't anyone become a god? All you need is power and some suckers to worship you? Seems like anyone can be a god.

Someone like Nova can fly off to a less developed planet and then claim to be a god. He'd probably be worshipped by the savages. Would that classify him as a god? He did used to hear voices in his head if that helps....

That definition is a bit weak, no? By that, any telepath can ascend to godhood by making everybody worship them. Maybe worship has to somehow empower the individual?

[Sutekh]

That definition is a bit weak, no? By that, any telepath can ascend to godhood by making everybody worship them. Maybe worship has to somehow empower the individual?

Even that definition has wiggle room. Exodus explicitly gets power from belief (both his own self-confidence and the belief of others), and teen Jean was able to tap into the psionic potential of people around her to bump up her power level, which is kinda/sorta similar. Moondragon had an entire planet full of people under her mental control (although I like to think that she was only directly influencing the minds of their natural leaders, and not like mind controlling every single person on the planet 24/7, because that's a bit extreme power-wise, even for her).

Thor and the Asgardians started out seeming like immortal super-powered aliens who had been worshipped as gods for thousands of years, but by the Simonson years, were very much gods of myth and legend, complete with all sorts of mythological 'godly' stuff, magic, elves & dwarves, prophecy, a connection to the afterlife, Thor's 'last worshipper,' fire demons like Surtr, etc. that wasn't at all tied to the original Kirby-era 'aliens with cool retro super-tech, flying machines, blasters, etc.' origin.

[phonogram12]

Jack Kirby:

[JudicatorPrime]

That definition is a bit weak, no? By that, any telepath can ascend to godhood by making everybody worship them. Maybe worship has to somehow empower the individual?

That pretty much sums it up as far as the Marvel Universe is concerned.

Several writers have indicated that most "true" gods, including Thor, derive some kind of mystical/psycho-spiritual empowerment from their worshipers. Not every uber-powerful entity does, as is the case with, say, the Stranger or the Beyonders. Sure, Iron Man could land on some undeveloped rock and proclaim himself the Supreme Being, amassing a number of worshippers in the process, but Stark wouldn't receive any benefit from supplication other than to his ego. He'd just be yet another mortal man claiming to be God.

What isn't clear is how that mystical link works or who created the process by which it works. It may be something added to the universe artificially by faux gods. A truly Supreme Being really doesn't need worshippers at all to further empower the infinite. But lesser beings would, including the demonic variety.

[kevlon]

Are all Asgardians considered god's? Like the common folk who we just live in the city getting on with their day?

[Panic]

It's a marketing gimmick.

[ARkadelphia]

Read this week’s Thor #1 for some insight

[scribbleMind]

I don't know the deets today because there a lot of changes, retcons, etc. First, just like in real life, god and God carry two different connotations. That capital letter is a whole lot. As I understood it, Norse gods are interdimensional aliens, but the Greek gods are psychic manifestations of human consciousness, and that's why they would often be depicted as getting more powerful upon worship. Of course, the fact that the Eternals were, canonically, often confused with the Greek gods add an interesting wrinkle to that. So one can assume, for the most part, every instance of a little g is a psychic manifestation or an incredibly powerful entity that was, at some point, beyond human understanding.

For me personally, if big G is being used, that's the entity responsible for creating life in the absence of life. Nice and simple. So as far as Marvel is concerned, God is The One Above All or...the combination of Reed (Father), Franklin (Son), Molecule Man (Holy Spirit). Of course, you can argue they're just enacting the will of TOAA the long way around with the new lore regarding how cosmic radiation is directly related to and influenced by TOAA the same way gamma radiation is directly related to and influence by TOBA (who is, actually, TOAA as well).

[Frontier]

Whatever the comic needs them to be.