Gods

Gods in RuneScape are several important characters who play a role within the game at this time. Each god has his or her own unique beliefs, character, history, followers, and domain. There are or have been at least twenty gods in Gielinor in one time or another, although many of them are unknown. The gods of Gielinor are most notable for their participation in the God Wars of the Third Age, a major conflict that nearly destroyed the entire world, and their daily role in the Prayer skill, which enables them to transfer small portions of their power temporarily to their worshippers for a variety of potent effects. Ages past, during and prior to the time of the Third Age, the RuneScape deities were capable of interacting freely upon Gielinor, which caused such unimaginable chaos that Guthix set his Edicts to prevent the Gielinor gods from ever directly interfering in the world again, influencing events only through their remaining followers. The gods are incredibly powerful beings in the RuneScape game, the oldest and most potent among them far exceeding that of any other known class or race of beings, despite each one, even Guthix himself, having limits to each their own power. It is believed that the Stone of Jas combined with the Staff of Armadyl would grant a Mahjarrat sufficient power to become a deity himself.

"All of the deities currently in this realm, and some who now are no longer with us, were involved in the war."

- Saradomin

Major gods
Major gods have the largest amount of followers in modern times.

Guthix


The god of balance and nature, and the god who shaped Gielinor after the Elder Gods created it. Although he has no specific gender, he is often referred to as male and appears as a Skull with lots of tendrills.

Saradomin


The god of order and justice, and the arch-nemesis of Zamorak. His followers are almost exclusively humans in modern times. Saradomin is male

Zamorak


The god of chaos and the arch-nemesis of Saradomin. Originally a Mahjarrat but became a god by attacking Zaros and thus inadvertently draining away much of his power.

Lesser-known gods
These gods are hardly known by anyone except the members of the race that worships them, or have been long forgotten.

Armadyl


Armadyl is a god who ruled the airs and skies. One of the oldest gods around, he was an ally of Saradomin during the God Wars. He is a god of good, though it was hard to tell good from evil during the God Wars. It is said he wept and abandoned Gielinor after his 'precious children', the Aviantese, had been slain, although a few of them still exist in the God Wars Dungeon.

Armadyl is generally thought to have been the precursor to Saradomin, once more powerful than the latter. It would eventually come to pass that Saradomin would succeed Armadyl as a major god of RuneScape.

Bandos


The god of the ogres, goblins, orks, trolls and hobgoblins. He plays a major role in several quests, and is a god players can fight for in the God Wars Dungeon. He is also the God of Battle (stated in the Game Guide as a description of Bandos armour) and the Big High War God (stated in Another Slice of H.A.M. quest).

Zaros


Also known as the Empty Lord, or the God of the Unknown Power. He was a major god before being overthrown and banished by Zamorak in the late Second Age. Before being overthrown, he supposedly ruled over most of the land in Gielinor and is recognized to be quite powerful, his name striking fear into both Saradomin and Zamorak still, millennia after his passing. He is thought to be the god of pure defilement and evil, with this supported by the various comments of multiple NPCs, though Jagex has stated explicitly that this is not the case.If you are wearing an amulet of cat speak and you talk to Bob the Jagex cat sometimes he says "I am Zar- I mean meow." However Azzanadra has confirmed that Zaros is not Bob the Jagex cat.

Marimbo


The god of the monkeys, worshiped on Ape Atoll. Once Guthix's pet but gained intelligence and became a God.

Seren


The goddess of the Elves, also hinted to be the divine aspect of the Anima Mundi, worshipped in Lletya and Prifddinas.

Freneskae Creator-God
The legends of the Mahjarrat speaks of an evil creator-god in their homeworld Freneskae. He is said to have combined his most fearsome creatures into the Muspah.

Flamtaer
Flamtaer was a deity worshipped by a people that once inhabited the area now known as Mort'ton, most likely long before or between the arrival of the Icyene, who ruled the area during the Second Age, and the vampyre conquest of Morytania. A temple dedicated to him is used during the Shades of Mort'Ton minigame. It is highly possible that he is linked to death, fire or cremation.

Brassica Prime


Brassica Prime is the god of Cabbages. Brassica Prime could only be found in Oo'glog during the 2009 April Fool's event. Its combat level appears to be 11.

Because Brassica Prime was only seen during the April Fool's event, it is generally not included among the actual gods discussed during the course of the game. As it is something a of a joke, it is not taken as seriously as the other deities.

The Kendal
The Kendal is a being worshiped as a god by the Mountain Tribe. A man impersonates the Kendal during the Mountain Daughter quest. It is unknown if the Kendal is a fairytale, a Fremennik spirit or a real deity.

The Fossegrimen
Fossegrimen is a spirit inhabiting the sea south of Rellekka. She is worshiped by the Fremenniks as a deity. An altar where a vision of her can be summoned is used during The Fremennik Trials. It is unknown if she is a mere spirit or a real god/demigod.

Menaphite Pantheon


Only eight desert gods have been named. Four of these gods have were named gods by Tumeken during his great desert journey. They are considered to be a "family" despite not being related by blood. Many of them still walk on Gielinor.

The Desert Gods are based on the Egyptian gods (e.g., Icthlarin is based on Anubis).

In the quests they've appeared in, the Menaphites have been able to directly interfere with events on Gielinor. This breaks the Edicts of Guthix, but nothing appears to have happened.

Tumeken
Tumeken is the lord of the Kharidian Desert, and is worshipped by the Menaphites. He is the husband of Elidinis, and the father of Icthlarin and Amascut.

Elidinis
Elidinis is the goddess of Fertility and Growth, and the wife of Tumeken. Her children are Icthlarin and Amascut. The River Elid is named after her. Elidinis is mentioned in the Spirits of the Elid quest.

Icthlarin


Icthlarin is the Demigod of the Dead, and friendly with cats. He appears in the quests Icthlarin's Little Helper, and Desert Treasure. He is the son of Tumeken and Elidnis

Amascut, "The Devourer"


The goddess of Destruction, Amascut is the sister of Icthlarin and the daughter of Tumeken and Elidnis. She appears in the Icthlarin's Little Helper quest, and uses the body of a wanderer to lure players into the city of Sophanem and steal ceremonial jars in a burial room, disturbing the spirit of the late pharaoh. She also appears in the Smoking Kills quest, when she makes a player go to rescue her "sister" (who turns out to be herself) in attempt to lure player into a trap with mighty banshees. She also hates cats because they are her former followers. They turned against her because of her large-scale destruction. They failed, and she turned them into cats.

Scabaras
According to Jex, Scabaras was a god who fell from grace. Of all the Gods of the Desert Pantheon (besides Icthlarin and Amascut), Scabaras is the one about which there is the most information. After the end of the God Wars, he defied the Edicts of Guthix and in the ensuing battle and subsequent banishment, he spilled his blood onto some Scarabs, turning them into Kalphites.

Het
Het is the least strange looking of the desert gods, as he apparently resembles humans. He is the god of mind and body health, and tends to be quite popular with Menaphites because of this. The plague of Sophanem is not known to be the work of Het or something trying to anger him, but Het is the main perpetrator in theories made by players.

Crondis
Crondis is a lady that has the head of a crocodile. According to Jex her main area of interest is with things that provide physical pleasure - such as food, vestments, etc. She tends to be followed by skilled cooks and hunters and other lavish people.

Apmeken
Apmeken is the most unpredictable and playful of the gods. She tends to appeal to people who desire mental pleasures which is often appealing to scholars and sometimes downright dishonest people. Her appearance is of a monkey or ape.

Elder Gods
The Elder Gods were a race of gods that created Gielinor, despite the popular theory that Guthix created this plane. The truth is that Guthix was never, and will never be strong enough to create an entire realm. Guthix merely found this realm completely empty, and shaped it to his pleasing. The Elder Gods were believed to be immensely powerful, and might even surpass the power of all of the current gods combined.

Jas
As of yet, the only known elder god is Jas. Jas was also the creator of the Legendary Stone of Jas, which plays a role in the quest While Guthix Sleeps. The Stone of Jas has power that has yet to be seen in any current day item, it was the original creator of runes, before the Runecrafting altars were discovered.

At first, Jas was considered to be a place, or material. But then, the discovery of a new saying of the oracle was found, stating: "Jas left a stone behind." Indicating that Jas was a physical being, rather than a material or place, also possibly meaning that the elder gods were different from the current day gods, as they had the physical mass to "leave" the Stone of Jas behind. But this could also mean that he left the stone behind using the power of his mind.

False Deities
Throughout the history of RuneScape, various entities have been worshipped as gods either due to their own claims or because of misinterpretations of history.

Bob the Cat
It is implied that Bob the Jagex Cat is in fact Zaros in hiding. This is later thought to be disproven when it was revealed that he is a feline incarnation of the Fourth Age hero Robert the Strong. Seeing as how Zaros died in the Second Age, it is possible that Robert is an incarnation of Zaros. A shrine dedicated to Bob can nonetheless be built using the construction skill. After completing The Temple at Senntisten, Dr Nabanik (Azzanadra) tells the player that Bob is not Zaros, and the player shouldn't rely on information from a cat!

The Evil Chicken
The Evil Chicken is worshipped as a deity by a bizarre cult in Zanaris, despite the fact that the chickens' non-godly origins have been explained in the past. The origin and worship of the Evil Chicken is mentioned in the Book on chickens. The shrine discussed in the book can be found in Zanaris.

Iban
In the recent Fifth Age, the Kinshra lord Iban was revived from the dead by the witch Kardia while living in a hut within the Underground Pass beneath the Arandar mountain range. After returning, Iban gathered a cult of Zamorakian followers and claimed to be the godly son of Zamorak himself. Although never accepted as a god by any but his followers, Iban's divinity is completely disproven when he is slain during the Underground Pass quest. In an issue of the God Letters, when asked whether Iban is actually his son or merely a lunatic who believes so, Zamorak replied "both."