Oh Gods!!

Product Information

Tasakeru: This is used frequently by the characters, as their whole society formed after the appearance of three Gods. Each species has their own unique mythology and names for the Gods, as well. Thieves' World series got their share of swearing, including mentions of some deity's armpits and whatnot. Romulan "Elements!" Originally appeared in the Rihannsu novels, in reference to a Romulan animistic belief in the four elements dating to their schism from the Vulcans. Inverted in Small Gods where Omnians — members of one of the few monotheistic religions on the Disc — say "Ye god!" rather than "Ye gods!" (which many monotheists on Earth say without even thinking about it).

Even though many churches really don't want us to use the Lord's name in vain, many people, especially in fiction, will end up saying "Goddammit" or "Oh my God" for one reason or another. note Technically, "God" isn't His name; even the words it's translated from ("El", "Eloah", and "Elohim") are more like describing what He is rather than a name. And the commandment in The Bible was originally about making false oaths anyway. However, a writer can't invoke a god in a fantasy environment because monotheism is rare, so where we say "Oh My God", characters in the fantasy universe will say "Oh My Gods!" Hannah Montana: When Robbie Ray is asked to predict the winner of a DDR contest between his mother and the Queen of England, he clasps his hands, looks skyward, and says "please, Lord, let it be the Queen!"Mission from God: The plot of the first two films have John Denver and Louanne Sirota appointed as God's messengers and tasked with spreading His message. Though the religion in question is actually a sect of Christianity, the Church of Humanity Unchained, from Honor Harrington's adopted planet Grayson, evolved a doctrine that was in many ways a reaction to their Death World. As a result, epithets for God on Grayson include the Tester, the Comforter, and the Intercessor. The phrase "Sweet Tester" is quite common. Specifically, it's a different way of envisioning the Holy Trinity - "Tester, Intercessor, and Comforter" = "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost/Spirit." Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story: When Dr. Kapatelis reveals Artemis' remains Diana exclaims "Gaia!" In Brake by Poul Anderson, the captain of a spacecraft on a runaway course out of the solar system swears Per Jovem (By Jupiter) which gives him a "Eureka!" Moment to use the friction of Jupiter's atmosphere to slow them down.

Truth Series: First Truth and its sequels have "Ashes!" used as a swearword, referring to cremation; characters will also sometimes say things like "By the eight puppies!" or "By the Navigator's Wolves," both of which seem to refer to a constellation very similar to the Big Dipper. Expressions like "Burn me to ashes" and "The Navigator's Wolves should hunt me/him/her" are also common.

Many characters in the series also refer to the evil gods when cursing: "Phrobus!" or "what in Fiendark's name..." for example. This is more the equivalent of using "the Devil!" as a curse, since most of the characters who do this aren't followers of the Dark Gods. Wonder Woman (1987): Diana uses Oh, Morpheus help me as an expression after waking from a bad dream. What made the London conference distinctive was its nonacademic participants. At the opening reception I drank orange juice and munched on potato skins with a tall Swedish woman who had introduced herself to me as a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness—a Hare Krishna. I was joined at lunch one day by a nondescript elderly gentleman in a coat and tie who turned out to be a wry Latvian neo-pagan. Among the others I came across were European Bahais, British Moonies, a Jewish convert to the Family (a sort of "Jesus Freak" offshoot formerly known as the Children of God), members of a small messianic community known as the Twelve Tribes, and several representatives from the Church of Scientology, including the director of its European human-rights office. (Scientology is trying hard to gain formal status as a religion in Europe and the former Soviet Union, but many countries—notably France, Germany, and Russia—consider it a cult to be eradicated.) Several attempts to remake the movie have ended up in Development Hell note No pun intended, most recently with Ellen DeGeneres or Betty White in the lead role.

In Lawrence Watt-Evans The Legends of Ethshar series, theurgy is a legitimate school of magic where you invoke a specific deity out of about 30 to hopefully do something for you. People naturally exclaim 'Gods!', or 'By all the gods in the sky, sea, and earth!' if the former isn't strong enough. Maya Angelou writes of being whipped by her grandmother for using the phrase "By the way" in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Her grandmother explains after the whipping that Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life", and no one takes the Lord's name in vain under her roof. In one book it explains that this is an important function of gods: it takes a very dedicated atheist to shout "Random fluctuations in the space-time continuum!" or " Outmoded superstition on a crutch!" after hitting his thumb with a hammer. Dwarf gods especially have no other reason for existing, and the dwarves claim to have no religion. The Heartstrikers: Downplayed. Not only do humans still swear normally, but dragons, who have been pretending to be humans for a thousand years, do the same. Very rarely, they swear "by fire," the magic at the core of every dragon. Likewise, in the sequel series DFZ everyone still swears by God despite there being many, many more gods around now. Broker does at one point swear "blessed city," referencing the Genius Loci he lives in.

Keep in touch

In another Ringworld book, Louis Wu was trying to get a catatonic Puppeteer to wake up, and in frustration shouted "By Kdapt, Allah and Finagle, I summon thee!" Grandpa God: Granted, he's a lot less majestic than the usual use of this trope. Tophet chides about His down-market golf outfit to Bobby, saying He's too humble for his own good, pointing out his own high-end suit. In Weber's Hell's Gate series, all currently mentioned religions have multiple deities, and one character actually exclaims " Oh, My Gods!".

Harry Dresden frequently uses "Hell's bells!" and "Stars and stones!" out of his deep faith in magic in lieu of an organized religion. In Peace Talks, his elderly mentor gripes that Harry doesn't even know the true meaning of those oaths. The Stormlight Archive: "Storms", "storming" and "Stormfather" are common curses, referencing the massive highstorms people have to live with (the Stormfather being the living embodiment of the Storm). This also leads to an exchange when Dalinar swears by the Stormfather while speaking to the Stormfather. References to both the Almighty, either referred to as such or occasionally as Honor, or the Heralds of the Almighty are also common, either as a group ("Heralds send that man some wisdom") or individually ("Kalak's breath").The present rate of growth of the new Christian movements and their geographical range suggest that they will become a major social and political force in the coming century. The potential for misunderstanding and stereotyping is enormous—as it was in the twentieth century with a new religious movement that most people initially ignored. It was called fundamentalist Islam. Gods!" and variations thereof are common in the Heralds of Valdemar series. Characters with mentioned faiths sometimes invoke specific deities; examples include the Windborn, the Star-Eyed Goddess, and Vkandis Sunlord, the latter two having manifested as real characters on various occasions. God Was My Copilot: In the first movie, George Burns's character tells Jerry that he (Burns) is God, and then spends half the movie trying to convince Jerry that he really did see God. The other half is spent in court, with God as a character witness. The future civilization from Robert Rankin's Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls has enough reverence for Charles Darwin that a scientist uses the phrase "Charlie's Beard!"