Gods

Gods in RuneScape are a group of deities who play a role within the game at this time, the only true immortals featured in the game. 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 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.



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

Saradomin


Saradomin is the god of order and light and arch-nemesis of Zamorak. His followers are almost exclusively humans in modern times. Saradomin is male and often portrayed as an old, bald man with a long beard. Most Saradominists claim that he is the god of good. His symbol is a four-tipped star, and the colour that represents him is blue and white.

Zamorak


The god of chaos, Lord of all Darkness and the arch-nemesis of Saradomin. Originally a Mahjarrat but became a god by draining Zaros's godly powers and absorbing it into himself. He is known as the god of chaos, although some call him the god of evil (although, he is not inherently evil, as is stated by different NPCs).

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 tendrils. He is thought to be the most powerful of the current gods.

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, also known as the god of justice. One of the oldest gods around, he was an ally of Saradomin during the God Wars. He is a god of law (in semi-conjunction with Saradomin) and 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. He is thought to have the fewest number of followers currently on Gielinor.

Bandos


The god of war and of the ogres, goblins, orks, trolls and hobgoblins. He plays a major role in several quests, and is a god for whom players can fight some of his troops 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 recognised 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 Bob the Jagex cat is not Zaros. He may have once had an alliance with the menaphite god Scabaras.

Marimbo


The god of the monkeys, worshipped on Ape Atoll. Little is known about Marimbo, besides that Marim is named after him.

Seren


The goddess of the Elves, also 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 of 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  vampyre conquest of Morytania. A temple dedicated to him is used during the Shades of Mort'ton activity. It is 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 of a joke ("brassica" is the genus of the plant Brassica rapa, otherwise known as "fast plants", and "brassicaceae" is the family of the cabbage plant), 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 suggests that they are not bound by the Guthixian Edicts.

In Armies of Gielinor, the Menaphite Pantheon is classed all together as 1 god, which may have to do with why they are not bound by Guthixian Edicts. Separated they are all mere thorns to the other gods, but together they can take down a god such as Saradomin. However, disputes such as with Icthlarin's followers and Amascut keep them separated.

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.

Because an achievment in Armies of Gielinor it is believed Tumeken is thought to be the sun for the achievment is "Tumeken rises this morn"

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 god 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 the player into a trap with mighty banshees. She also hates cats because they are her former followers who turned against her because of her large-scale destruction. Their curse bound her to be cast out of anyone she may try to possess. In fury, she lashed her own curse against her old followers, making them the cats they are today.

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 has the most availible information about him. 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. He may have had an alliance with Zaros.

Het
Het is the least strange looking of the desert gods, as he apparently resembles humans. He is the god of knowledge and bodily 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. Players can speak to Apmeken during the Do No Evil Quest.

Elder gods
The Elder gods were a race of gods that existed so long ago that even Guthix struggles to remember them. Though it is commonly believed that Guthix created Gielinor, the god of balance himself is keen to point out that the plane already existed when he discovered it. He only created Gielinor in the sense that he shaped the empty, lifeless plane it originally was into the world as it is today, adding life in the form of plants and animals as well as certain races such as gnomes and dwarves. In this light, it seems likely that it was the Elder Gods who created the plane itself. Probably surpassing even Guthix, it is safe to assume that they are exceedingly powerful.

Currently, no Elder Gods are known. Due to the immense power of the stone that bears his name, many believe that the being known as Jas is in fact an Elder God, but it has never been confirmed.

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
Occasionally when talking to Bob the Jagex Cat, Bob begins to say that he is "Zar..." before cutting himself off, leading players to speculate that he is actually Zaros in disguise. 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. (Though that did not dispel the possibility that he was Zaros completely, as Zaros was thought to be killed before the time of Robert.) Furthermore, 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. Despite the fact that Bob's claim appears to be only a joke on Jagex's part, a shrine dedicated specifically to him (as a separate being; no affiliation with Zaros is implied) can nonetheless be built using the Construction skill.

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, and further supported by the Mahjarrat Enakhra, who confirms in a Postbag from the Hedge that Iban was not Zamorak's biological son. 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," implying he may consider him a son in a spiritual sense.