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Take on Gods in Mythology, cliche or not?

Gqz

New Member
New user here, hi!

It would be good if I could have feedback on a particular race I've been developing for my series which is in development.

Backstory; Referred to as Mageic, they make up Human mythology and mirror most of the Deities in mythology, however, these gods pray and have needs. They're currently in a war with another race which mirrors demons, known as Daer.

Society; Mageic are not immortal and are split into a feudal-like pyramid. The king is the same, however, below them are Gods of warriors and Prince-type Mageic. These are noted to be the strongest of the Mageic with a grand-age of 17,000 whilst the average is 8,000. Below them are the Gods of Education and other minor gods.

The Mageic are not an advanced race but instead a race of pure energy which is given emotion by Humanity (cliché already). Their society does not advance in technology and is instead stagnant, it does not change at all or go backwards.

They pray to the idea of 'Enlightenment' which is stated to grant a chosen Mageic with 3 wishes directly given by 'The God' (He is an Omnipotent symbol of everything and nothing). I have a character in development who becomes one with 'Enlightenment'.

Appearance; The Mageic appear commonly as Humans around 5ft 11'' to 6ft 8'', however, there are few examples of some which are over 10 ft. Each of them are incredibly alluring to a common person.

God-Reign
Each Mageic has an ability called God-Reign. Upon willing it, a Mageic can instantly sprout large wings up to 10ft in both directions. Floating above their backs is a Magic circle which allows the Mageic to have a larger outflow of Magic to preform tasks which put them above Solar system feats (Tiering).

God-Reign works depending on the law of a Mageic. A character I have created and developed named Viramourne is the embodiment of Pride and Prosperity, so he acts based on those laws. The closer the laws to strength the more powerful the Mageic are and a better chance of achieving 'Enlightenment'

Extra notes; Mageic are unable to comprehend most emotions which is one of the themes in my story when Viramourne encounters a girl who has been a victim of a War which is escalating to a World war.
 
Hi Gqz and welcome to the community!

Writing about mythologies and gods is no more cliche then writing about cops trying to solve crimes. Strictly speaking, it's probably all very cliche, but that by no means means it will make for a dull or tired story. Utilizing a writers' staple is not by itself a bad thing. What matters is how you use such things.

For my two cents, what you've described sounds like it has its own original architecture and therefore the potential to be a compelling fresh environment for readers to explore. Just be careful not to make it overly complex to the point where it's difficult to follow how things work. This can sometimes be a pitfall, especially for writers who are concerned about making their worlds original.
 

K.S. Crooks

Maester
Focus your attention on what you want to have in a story. Everyone draws from different sources and areas of their life for their writing. Most stories have many elements that have already been seen elsewhere. I think the goal is in making the combination of old elements with new ones completely your own. Make the important aspects unique and worry less about the smaller parts of your world. Remember that if you have to explain every detail you will lose the flow of your story and it helps to have things readers feel familiar.
 

SeverinR

Vala
You could go full Mythos and then study up on as much information you can find or you can loosely base your gods on the mythos of the real past, but have the freedom to make them your own.
If you make a world, might as well make the gods fit your world rather then just put gods designed for long ago Earth.

I use Eros(God of love, Greek) in one Wip. A human god for a human character. But I just did the basic research, since my world is not Earth, so the Earthly restrictions are gone. (One example; He is the God of love, love for all humankind, not just humans, and of course acting on that love.)
I made Elven Gods of my own, it's much easier then trying to figure out someone else's gods.
 

Gqz

New Member
Thanks for the replies guys, very positive criticism!

I've been developing my characters such as Viramourne so that he can be incorporated into the world which I've chosen as Earth but with a twist of Magic. I'm very tied between either making Viramourne or another WIP character the main, however, it could be better if I make them both main characters.

I'm planning on making it so that Viramourne is exiled to Earth for a mysterious reason whilst also missing half of his God-Reign. I also plan to incorporate the themes of internal strife to the Mageic who is often compared to God in blasphemous ways whilst fighting against a Daer (Demon) who wants to drive the Mageic to extinction. The Daer is also suffering from internal discord as she doesn't want to die a martyr in order to do so.

Themes of Religion are a driving part of the story including Science V. Religion. I plan on adding short scenes in the book which set the mood of a specific arc, an example being a priest seeing Viramourne in his God-Reign and the contrast to an angel.

Viramourne and the Daer make contrasts as Viramourne is depicted as a Western Knight whilst adorned in his armour; and the Daer (I hope to call Lilith) is culturally Asian in a sense of her life-style, appearance and her Samurai-like armour.

Other themes such as war and love play into the story as the fantasy Earth is currently interlaced in an ever-growing war and how Magic changes history before the first world war. Themes of love between the Viramourne and the Daer are more obscure in the beginning but are eventually fleshed out as they ally themselves to defeat a common foe.

EDIT: The story is mostly inspired after the Japanese Anime industry and is more likely to be published in the outline of a Light Novel or Graphic Novel.

Viramourne is my own take on Mythology as he is not recognised as an actual Mageic in the beginning but goes down as one, he was born to a Roman Di Inferi and the Finnish Water Goddess Vedema (If I spelt it correctly)
 
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