The Cosmere's "little gods"

[Ixthos he/him]

I've been noticing something interesting in that, in addition to the Shards, there are also several beings in the Cosmere that want to become gods, or already function in the capacity of gods, to various peoples on the various planets. There are at least six categories of gods in the Cosmere. Three quotes from Rhythm of War, and of course the various references to deities not directly linked to the Shards, bring this mainly to mind, two of them relating to the Unmade, and one from Odium:

 

Interlude I-2: Sja-anat

Quote

He left, following the others. Sja-anat regretted that the smaller two—the Enlightened windspren—were essentially distractions. Odium would see them for certain.
Protect some children.
Sacrifice others.
A choice only a god could make.
A god like Sja-anat.

[...]

She didn’t fully understand the laws that bound him. They were ancient, and related to compacts between the Shards, the high gods of the cosmere.

[...]

Both knew she wanted more freedom than he would allow. Both knew that she wanted to be a god unto herself. But he didn’t know for certain she was taking actions to undermine him, like when she’d saved Shallan and her companions from death in Kholinar a year ago. She had played that off as accidental, and he couldn’t prove otherwise.

[...]

You will not go to the tower, Odium said. He hated how she referred to the Sibling—the slumbering child of Honor and Cultivation—as her cousin. But we are about to make a ploy with the betrayal of the man Taravangian. You will watch him.

(the last entry mainly to establish the Sibling, despite not claiming to be a god, as being in the same general category)

 

Chapter 73: Which Master to Follow

Quote

You have no idea the power that awaits you, Venli, Ulim said to the Rhythm of Craving. In the old days, forms of power were reserved for the most special. The most valuable. They were strong, capable of amazing feats.
“Then how did we ever lose?” she asked.
Bah, it was a fluke. We couldn’t break the last Herald, and the humans found some way to pin the whole Oathpact on him. So we got stuck on Braize. Eventually the Unmade decided to start a war without us. That turned out to be exceedingly stupid. In the past, Odium granted forms of power, but Ba-Ado-Mishram thought she could do it. Ended up handing out forms of power as easily as Fused give each other titles, Connected herself to the entire singer species. Became a little god. Too little.

 

Chapter 114: Broken Gods

Quote

But … beyond that, what of the entire cosmere? He couldn’t see that far yet. Perhaps he would eventually be able to. But he did know his predecessor’s plans, and had access to some of his knowledge. So Taravangian knew the cosmere was in chaos. Ruled by fools. Presided over by broken gods.

 

Now I think the categories for deities in the Cosmere - are as follows:

 

1) The God Beyond

• The Absolute, and a topic Brandon wouldn't like to confirm, leaving the option for the reader to decide, above the Cosmere and into our own world 

 

2) The Power of Creation

• The dead and broken force that was splintered into the Shards - above the Shards as by implication it could use all the powers they individually could - such as possessing Preservation's ability to hear any soul and Ruins ability to speak to any soul with cracks within it - though the question remains if, for example, it hadn't been fully killed and only 1/16th of its power as separated from it, would that single Shard be a match in terms of power, or would it be inferior? Certainly the idea could be that, when the power was broken, while its individual parts remained, though now separate, that there was a 17th part that was lost to the Shards, something necessary. Perhaps even why the organisation known as the 17th Shard was formed.

 

3) The Shards - the High Gods / the Broken Gods

• The strongest beings still existing and confirmed to be in the Cosmere, though several Vessels are now dead and their Shards splintered. There are still questions, such as if, for example, Harmony is equally matched with Trell, and if so what if Trell isn't a combination of other Shards, but rather is a single Shard, or an Avatar of a Shard? Still, these beings, locked into single modes, are certainly both broken and high. Broken as their goals are too singular, too narrow, and their minds still mortal minds, still susceptible to weakness, as noted by other characters who interacted with them, such as Vin and Dalinar, both seeing the humanity in their enemies, and knowing that it could be exploited. High as they control and are related to all the investiture in the Cosmere, and have power over worlds and people.

 

3.5) Avatars 

• A unique and somewhat odd spot, these are maybe synonymous with their parent Shard, instead being like a second, possibly subordinate Vessel, sharing the Shard with its main Vessel. Or perhaps if a Shard has an Avatar there is no hierarchy - that would certainly fit with Autonomy, as there is an ironic element to a Shard focused on individuality who can pull the chain on Avatars of individuality. They may also be simply larger Splinters, or Splinters more in tune with the parent Shard, like an offshoot from a tree, rather than a stick that broke off. Either way, they are certainly more powerful than Invested individuals, but possibly less powerful than a full Shard, unless Trell is an Avatar - though it begs the question, could an Avatar seek to absorb Splinters of other Shards into itself, to become more? That is my own theory on Trell, that it is an Avatar who sees the best use of their Autonomy to take up as much power as it can from other sources, to become Autonomous from Autonomy itself, and find its own path. Either way, this category exists either directly between the "Little Gods" and the Shards, or as part of the Shards category or as part of the "Little Gods" category.

 

4) The "Little Gods"

• The main focus of this discussion. The Splinters, and things that may not be exactly Splinters. Perhaps Avatars are included, but that was discussed above. Though technically any Splinter would count, I think only the exceptionally strong Splinters, and related beings, fit this category. For all Syl jokes, or says with seriousness, that she is a god, the Stormfather, Sibling, Nightwatcher and the Unmade sit in this category better than she or any Radiant spren does. Though not all may claim this, the general level of power they possess, and their control over various properties that affect entire worlds or regions of the world, and the claims of their cousins, these constitute beings at least considered to be deities, and which are powerful, but which are lesser in power than the Shards.
• A short list of some possible examples:
  • The Stormfather, the Sibling, and the Nightwatcher
  • The Unmade
  • (Avatars, unless they fully fit the Shards)
  • Possibly the beings or forces associated with Sel's nations and regions, one of which may be what chooses who becomes an Elantrian, so Jaddeth and Domi and others
  • The Evil on Threnody

 

5) Invested Individuals

• Elantrians, Returned, The Lord Ruler, the Herelds, a certain Cognitive Shadow, and others besides, including the more humble Mistings and Ferrings to the Southern Scadrians. Does Wyrn count? Skathan? Perhaps Spren other than the more powerful type are included here too. Sleepless, Hoid, and others also fit this category in part, though the Sleepless may better fit the next category.

 

6) Mythology

• The mythical beings and legends, beings which may tie directly to one or two or more of the above categories. Does Marsh, Iron Eyes, count as a mythologyical figure due to the traits associated with him, or as an Invested individual? Is Patji as an Island a full match to Patji as an Avatar? Kelsier as he is now vs Kelsier as Preservation vs Kelsier in the mythology of the North and the South? What of the religions of pre-TLR Scadrial? These may be real beings, or based on real beings, but they have more traits associated with them than they actually possess or possessed, or there is not enough information available to say what they actually are related to.

 

Are there any categories? Any individuals not mentioned?

Hope you are well!

Edited December 19, 2021 by Ixthos
First edit - Fixed a sentence, added an entry. Second edit - further fixes

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

Though this is interesting to think about, I’m not sure this is the most useful way to categorize entities in the cosmere. First of all, what exactly makes a god a god? The definition this list seems to be going with is belief and worship - that a portion of the general populace must believe they exist, and have some kind of influence over the world. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have included Category 6. But you also included Ba-Ado-Mishram, who’d been largely forgotten by the common folk of Roshar by the time SA happened. 

So, maybe a better way to think about this is to see what entities actually have godlike power, such as Adonalsium and the Shards (which would be a rather good name for a cosmere Harry and the Potters-esque band). Basically, ditching Category 6 and adding Adonalsium. And maybe also tweaking the rest of the list a bit.

[AquaRegia he/him]

2 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

ditching Category 6 and adding Adonalsium.

It was pretty clear to me that Adonalsium is Category 2.

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

11 minutes ago, Ookla of Axi said:

It was pretty clear to me that Adonalsium is Category 2.

*renaming Category 2 to Adonalsium.

[cometaryorbit]

Yeah, I think Category 2 should be Adonalsium - I don't know if "power of creation" is entirely a synonym for Adonalsium, at times it seems to be used more broadly to mean Investiture (eg an Allomancer is "tapping into the powers of creation just slightly").

More broadly - the idea of godhood and what it means is a core theme of the Cosmere. The Elantrians in Elantris, the Returned (and Lightsong's disbelief in his own religion) in Warbreaker, the Lord Ruler and Kelsier and Harmony in Mistborn, spren and Heralds and the implications of Honor's death in Stormlight...

 

 

Quote

 

Brandon Sanderson

Depends on which definition of immortal you mean.

Doesn't age, but can be killed by conventional means. (You've seen some of these in the cosmere, but I'll leave you to discuss who.)

Heals from wounds, but still ages. (Knights Radiant with Stormlight are like this.)

Reborn when killed. (The Heralds.)

Doesn't age and can heal, but dependent upon magic to stay this way, and so have distinct weakness to be exploited. (The Lord Ruler, among others.)

Hive beings who are constantly losing individual members, but maintaining a persistent personality spread across all of them, immortal in that as long as too much of the hive isn't wiped out, the personality can persist. (The Sleepless.)

Bits of sapient magic, eternal and endless, though the personality can be "destroyed" in specific ways. (Seons. Spren. Nightblood. Cognitive Shadows, like a certain character from Scadrial.)

Shards (Really just a supercharged version of the previous category.)

And then, of course, there's Hoid. I'm not going to say which category, if any, he's in.

Some of these blend together--the Heralds, for example, are technically a variety of Cognitive Shadow. I'm not saying each of these categories above are distinct, intended to be the end-all definitions. They're off the cuff groupings I made to explain a point: immortality is a theme of the cosmere works--which, at their core, are experiments on what happens when men are given the power of deity.

Stormlight Three Update #5 (Nov. 29, 2016)

 

 

(Excerpt from a longer WOB)

[Ixthos he/him]

9 hours ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

Though this is interesting to think about, I’m not sure this is the most useful way to categorize entities in the cosmere. First of all, what exactly makes a god a god? The definition this list seems to be going with is belief and worship - that a portion of the general populace must believe they exist, and have some kind of influence over the world. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have included Category 6. But you also included Ba-Ado-Mishram, who’d been largely forgotten by the common folk of Roshar by the time SA happened. 

Ahhh, well I certainly do have opinions on what makes a god a god, but I don't think now is the time for a theological discussion  though while Ba-Ado-Mishram may have been forgotten by the common folk I don't think the Fused or Listeners ever forgot, and their views on what is and isn't a deity are just as relevant as the humans on Roshar. The main focus is on whether more than one person considers that being and beings of its type to be a god.

 

9 hours ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

So, maybe a better way to think about this is to see what entities actually have godlike power, such as Adonalsium and the Shards (which would be a rather good name for a cosmere Harry and the Potters-esque band). Basically, ditching Category 6 and adding Adonalsium. And maybe also tweaking the rest of the list a bit.

In terms of power I think everything in the "Little Gods" list fits that description - having both power and power over various things, such as the Stormfather being vital to the ecology of the planet. Also, as @Ookla of Axi noted, I did include that in the Power of Creation, category 2. Indeed, the Coppermind Article actually mentions that as a possible secondary name. The reason I didn't write that name is more personal and theological, so I prefer not to write that. I also usually refer to shardmetals and shardspren rather than godmetals and godspren, though for this post I felt referring to the shards as gods, and listing the shardspren as "Little Gods" in the context of others beliefs was relevant, and my own opinion on what is and isn't a god, and hierarchy, are adapting.

 

5 hours ago, Ookla the Cometary said:

Yeah, I think Category 2 should be Adonalsium - I don't know if "power of creation" is entirely a synonym for Adonalsium, at times it seems to be used more broadly to mean Investiture (eg an Allomancer is "tapping into the powers of creation just slightly").

More broadly - the idea of godhood and what it means is a core theme of the Cosmere. The Elantrians in Elantris, the Returned (and Lightsong's disbelief in his own religion) in Warbreaker, the Lord Ruler and Kelsier and Harmony in Mistborn, spren and Heralds and the implications of Honor's death in Stormlight...

 

 

 

(Excerpt from a longer WOB)

 

As mentioned here, "power of creation" is acceptable parlance, though still a bit unusual I'll grant: 

Quote

Chaos

Is Adonalsium and the "power of creation" synonymous?

Brandon Sanderson

In some people's usage.

/r/books AMA 2015 (June 5, 2015)

Though I do agree with you on Brandon's goal to explore what deity means and what is and isn't a god to a people and culture.