Entertainment in any form has always been reliant on two things that are deeply embedded in culture and history; mythology and fantasy. All forms of entertainment draw inspiration from the stories and elements that both fantasy and mythology create over time. Books, movies, TV shows, and even video games look to mythology to create expansive worlds and exciting storylines because myths provide a never-ending supply of narrative possibilities. Most mythology, whether it is cultural or religious, is rich with fantasy elements, providing even more narrative possibilities and the opportunity for creativity.
Much of mythology and fantasy revolves around deities, also known as gods. Whether they are Greek, Roman, Norse, or something completely different, deities are frequently showing up in entertainment media. Deities make for entertaining and engaging characters that can take a storyline to new levels thanks to the out-of-this-world abilities deities possess. Television shows often include deities in their main cast of characters because the episodic format of television allows more time to fully explore their powers and the world from which they derive. TV shows are excellent for fleshing out characters and building unique worlds, making them the perfect choice for telling stories involving deities. Here are 11 shows that feature deities as main characters:
Related:Best Monster Movies That Took Inspiration from Mythology
12Young Hercules (1998-1999)
Longbefore he was just Ken, Ryan Gosling was an adolescent version of one of the most famous demi-gods in all mythology.Young Herculesfocused on the young son of Zeus as he trained at Cheiron’s Academy to hone his warrior skills. With his friends Lilith, Jason, and lolaus, Hercules would fight his brother Ares along with other gods and mythical beings. The show served as a prequel to the show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which concurrently aired with Young Hercules in 1998 and 1999.
11Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999)
Speaking ofHercules: The Legendary Journeys, this show featured the version of the demi-god that most of us are more familiar with. In the show, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) didn’t live in Olympus with the gods as legend would have it, instead, he lived on Earth and relinquished his immortality to fight both human and mystical evil, usually accompanied by lolaus. Being the bastard son of Zeus, Hera would frequently set up challenges for him to face in addition to the challenges he found on his own adventures, but he always helped save innocent mortals.
10Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001)
Hercules: The Legendary Journeyswas so popular that it created not one, but two spin-off series during the time it was still airing on Fox. Arguably the most popular of the three shows in theHerculesTV universe wasXena: Warrior Princess. It aired the longest of the three shows, surpassing the original by two years and Young Hercules by five years.
Xena (Lucy Lawless) was actually scheduled to die in her third appearance on Hercules, but the network instead created an entire show for her due to her popularity. It follows her as she tries to redeem herself from her former title of “Destroyer of Nations” by fighting for the greater good. In her quest for redemption, she meets Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor), a small-town bard hungry for adventure. Together, they take down formidable opponents, including the gods.
9Miracle Workers (2019-Present)
A different type of workplace comedy entirely,Miracle Workersis set in the offices of Heavens Inc. When God (Steve Buscemi) becomes bored with humanity and threatens to destroy Earth, two low-level angels must convince the big man upstairs to save humanity. Craig (Daniel Radcliffe) is responsible for handling all of Heaven’s prayers, so he teams up with fellow angel Eliza (Geraldine Viswanathan) to convince God they can pull off an impossible task; make two human beings fall in love.
Theshow follows the anthology format, so the rest of the seasons take place in different time periods and follow different events, but the first season sees God be a main presence in the storyline and directly responsible for the chain of events that follow from his decision to end Earth.
8Good Omens (2019-2023)
Based on the work of Neil Gaiman,Good Omensfollows an angel named Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and a demon named Crowley (David Tennant) who were cast out of Heaven and Hell, respectively. Long-time acquaintances, the two of them have grown accustom to each other’s company as representatives of Heaven and Hell and have agreed not to let the conflict between their sides prevent their friendship. When they get wind that Armageddon is about to happen, they decide to team up to prevent the coming of the Antichrist and the end of the pleasant life they both enjoy on Earth.
The show was originally intended to be a miniseries before popularity demanded a second season, which had Aziraphale and Crowley encounter the Archangel Gabriel as they try to hide him from both Heaven and Hell.
7Olympus (2015)
Advertised as a retelling of Greek mythology,Olympuswas a British/Canadian production that saw the gods of Olympus banished to the unconscious realm, or the underworld. It follows a young man named Hero (Tom York) as he transforms from a fresh-faced adolescent to a ruthless leader of humanity and a match for the gods they banished. Hero embarks on a quest to discover the truth of his past and shed light on the future. His journeys lead him to the darkest realms of Ancient Greece where he meets the Oracle of Gaia, powerful sorceress Medea, and inventor Daedalus. As he transforms into a ruthless killer, Hero battles monsters, kings, and gods.
Related:Best Movies About Greek Mythology, Ranked
6Hercules (1998-1999)
Following the success of the animated movie of the same name that was released the year before,Herculesserves as a prequel to the movie and shows the hero during his many years spent learning how to become a hero. Hercules (Tate Donovan) trained as a protégé under the direction of the satyr Philoctetes (Robert Costanzo). During his years of training to use his demi-god strength for good, many of the Olympian gods come to visit him. Even Hades (James Woods) and Pegasus (Frank Welker) visit him on occasion.
5Loki (2021-Present)
Even Marvel uses mythology to create their characters and worlds. The God of Mischief and the God of Thunder are two of the MCU’s most popular characters, and the former even gothis own TV show that is returning for its second seasonin October.Lokitakes place after the events ofAvengers: Endgameand sees the 2012 version of the trickster leave his timeline when the Avengers time-traveled to retrieve the Tesseract.
When he leaves his timeline to go to a new one, he is taken in by the Time Variance Authority for disrupting the Sacred Timeline. In the show, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) meets various versions of himself, including a female version named Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) as he tries to figure out who controls all time.
4American Gods (2017-2021)
Another show based on a novel of Neil Gaiman’s,American Godsfollows an imprisoned man named Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) who is told days before his release that his wife was killed in a car accident. He is released early to attend the funeral, but upon his early release, he meets a mysterious man named Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) who repeatedly offers him a job.
Shadow initially refuses Wednesday’s offers, until he tells Shadow that the job waiting for him at home no longer exists. Soon, Shadow finds himself caught up in a conflict between the Old Gods and the New Gods in a world where magic exists and the Old Gods fear irrelevance.
3Supernatural (2005-2020)
The Winchester brothers faced off against many, many beings and creatures duringSupernatural’s 15 years on air. From angel and demon wars to losing souls or bearing the Mark of Cain, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) encountered basically every divine or supernatural creature known to man. The boys eventually even meet God himself, who prefers to be called Chuck.
After years of Sam, Dean, and Castiel (Mischa Collins) wondering where God went, Chuck (Rob Benedict) came back to Earth when his sister Amara (Emily Swallow) was released from her imprisonment and threatened to plunge the Earth into darkness. Eventually, Amara became good and Chuck turned into the main villain as he started destroying universes to get the Winchesters to cooperate with the ending he was writing. In addition to God and the Darkness, Sam and Dean fought archangels, Greek and Roman gods, and even Loki.
