http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CreatorWorship

Please don't list this on a work's page as a trope. Examples can go on the work's YMMV tab.

— An old saying, often attributed to Buddha note If he actually said it, that's all the more ironic, considering that many worship the Buddha as a god, while his teachings never suggest that he was divine. "The teacher comes to point the way and the students end up worshiping the pointer."

Isn't it interesting that the defining additional information coming from the creator of a medium is called the Word of God?

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Sometimes, a fandom seems to be dedicated to not only the specifics of the show, but to every word or comment that is issued from the creator's mouth. Often anything the creators say, even when not related to the fandom, will be adopted into their vocabulary and mindset. If the creator decides to drop an anvil, it will always be an anvil in dire need of dropping according to the fans. If they decide to suddenly insert a long diatribe that otherwise has nothing to do with the rest of the story, hey, it's their book/comic/show/whatever, they can voice their opinions if they want! If the creator seems to be getting more and more full of themselves, well they're entitled to it because they're just that awesome! These reactions can vary from mild to extreme, but basically the object of Creator Worship will always have fans ready to make some kind of excuse for whatever they do.

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The creators themselves may become aware of the power they hold. Some will use it conservatively, to promote unity and not impose their opinions to the masses. Others will wield it like a weapon, boldly stating their position on subjects and obviously hoping their followers will... follow.

Obviously anyone who rises to some type of popularity will have fans, but this is not about a fan going "I really like this one guy..." This trope is about the fans worshipping these mere mortals, and not just the stuff they make.

Such worship may come to resemble established religions, with vicious attitudes towards non-fans.

When it goes wrong, or when the inverse happens, see Scapegoat Creator and Fallen Creator. Also note that the devotion implied by this trope need not be permanent to count.

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Examples

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Anime and Manga

Art

Michelangelo Buonarroti is seen as the most complete artist. He set the standard in painting and sculpting for many centuries. It's prevalent enough that most discussions of the Sistine Chapel end up involving more praise for Michelangelo than the Creator the Chapel was made to worship.

Rembrandt van Rijn is admired by many graphic artists, not only for his almost photo realistic paintings, but also for his humanity. Compared to other technically perfect painters he still manages to make the viewers feel warmth and attachement to the people on his paintings, almost as if they are alive.

Vincent van Gogh has this reputation among many graphic artists, because everyone can relate to a struggling genius unable to make a living, while his work is so ahead of its time that nobody recognizes it.

Pablo Picasso is the most influential artist of the 20th century and thus worshipped by many modern artists or people who like modern art.

Auguste Rodin has a divine reputation among sculptors, comparable to Vincent Van Gogh in the sense that it was disliked at the time, but is now been seen as genius.

Comic Books

Fan Works

Film

Literature

Live-Action TV

Music

Mythology, Ideology and Religion

This is the very nature of religion or any kind of ideology. All the gods, prophets, gurus, saints, ideological and/or religious leaders will be worshipped, trusted, believed and obeyed by their followers. Naturally with the predictable result that people of opposing viewpoints will get angry or violent and start fighting each other. Interestingly, somewhat downplayed with modern Hinduism. The three gods of the Trimurti, the supreme Divinty, are Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. Although Brahma is worshipped, he he has far fewer followers than either Vishnu or Shiva. Also downplayed in Judaism. While ancestors and prophets are held up as great role models, their flaws are also presented clearly, so no one actually worships or prays to them.



Philosophy and Ideology

Politics

Professional Wrestling

Many wrestling fans believe that Vince McMahon should be hailed as the sole creator and protector of modern professional wrestling. As Vince has gotten older though, Triple H has become the the "force for good" to many fans because of his work in developing NXT. If an episode of RAW or a PPV drastically exceeds expectations, then he gets almost all of the credit while when the opposite is true, Vince is automatically blamed, despite fans generally having no idea who contributed what. And as a semi-active wrestler (and almost full-time character), Triple H has a significant conflict of interest with booking himself to look good no longer held by Vince, which is often overlooked. However, Trips has made far fewer appearances in front of the camera over the last few years, and when he gets in the ring now it's almost exclusively to put up-and-coming talent over (which he has done for 4 of the last 5 WrestleMania events).

Smart Marks (especially the Internet Wrestling Community) worship Dave Meltzer. Ric Flair, in his autobiography, compared Meltzer's The Wrestling Observer Newsletter to The Bible.

Fans of the original ECW often give Paul Heyman the full-on Creator Worship treatment. There's a reason why the word "Kool-Aid" seems to come up a lot while discussing ECW and its mutants?

Gabe Sapolsky received a lot of creator worship after Ring of Honor's recovery from the RF Video Scandal was attributed to his booking. However, many people lost the faith after Dragon Gate pulled out of the USA branch he was booking and EVOLVE regressed from a fairly distinct promotion to DG USA without the pretension of still having anything to do with Dragon Gate, which was again attributed to his booking. Since DG USA's folding into EVOLVE in 2014, however, EVOLVE has regained its place as an excellent promotion and Gabe has recovered his own reputation with the usage of fresh talent (Matt Riddle, Tracy Williams, Fred Yehi) and strong stories. Developing an official relationship with WWE hasn't hurt, either.

A downplayed but interesting example; Chavo Guerrero Jr. is one of the producers on Lucha Underground, where he also plays one of the slimiest, dirtiest, most despicable heels on the roster and consequently gets the expected amount of heel heat. However, whenever Kayfabe is allowed to slip (such as when Chavo came out and announced the Season 4 premiere date during the Lucha Underground vs IMPACT Wrestling crossover show) he gets riotously cheered, similar to Triple H on NXT.

Science

Aristotle: For centuries Artistotle's scientific theories were considered dogma in Western civilization. He was seen as one of the biggest geniuses of the Antiquity. Unfortunately this also had a bad effect, because nobody dared to contest whether his theories were actually true. Aristotle had theorized a lot of stuff purely on observation, rather than testing it. This has diminished his stature quite since the Enlightment took place, but he is still seen as an important historical person.

Nicolas Copernicus: He is admired for daring to take a stance against church dogma about astronomical theory. Copernicus suggested that the sun was the center of the universe and not Earth, as many people thought. In both Poland and Germany note Copernicus lived in regions that are nowadays part of both modern Germany and modern Poland he is still seen as a national hero.

he is still seen as a national hero. Leonardo da Vinci: He is seen as the most versatile genius the planet ever knew, being an expert in both painting and sculpting as well as making many breakthroughs in anatomy by dissecting human bodies and writing down his conclusions. He also showed great insight in physics, astrodynamics and how machinery works by writing down theories on many inventions that would only become reality centuries later. Only in the 20th century have people realized how ahead of his time this man actually was.

Galileo Galilei: Galilei continued Copernicus' theories and contested Aristotle's theories, by testing them and discovering that heavy objects fall at the same speed as light ones, the Sun is indeed the center of the Solar System and making many astronomical breakthroughs. He is so revered by astronomers that his name has been used for space projects.

Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek: This Dutch biologist did a lot of microscopical research that helped people's understanding of how the human body works and how illnesses operate. Humanity owes a lot to his man in the fields of medicine.

Isaac Newton: His discovery and understanding how gravity works and many other scientific breakthroughs have made him both a hero in physics, math and astronomy. He came in sixth place in 100 Greatest Britons.

Edward Jenner: Inventor of the small pox vaccin and pioneer of vaccination, which was a major medical breakthrough for which he is still revered to this day.

Louis Pasteur: His discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization helped creating vaccins for rabies, anthrax and stopped bacterial contamination of milk and wine, which saved the lives of millions of people.

Marie Curie: She is not only admired for her scientific research in chemistry and physics and pioneering research on radioactivity, but also for being one of the few female scientists who managed to devote her life to her work and overcame prejudices based on the fact that she was a woman. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and even win it twice, as well as the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.

Albert Einstein: The most iconic scientist of all time, whose theories are often used as Word of God in physics, nuclear physics, astronomy, math, rocket science,... He is the most recognizable scientist to the general public and often used on posters and in advertising. He is also admired for his political stances (critical of racism, capitalism and the nuclear bomb).

Alexander Fleming: His discovery of penicillin could be the most amazing breakthrough in the fields of medicine of all time, saving countless of lives. Therefore he is seen as one of the most important scientists of the 20th century.

Jonas Salk: Invented the polio vaccin, which made him admirable in fields of medicine and to many people who benefited from being cured. But... he is also admired for his kindness as he refused to take a patent on his vaccin, because he felt it should be accessible to everyone on the planet. It could have made him a millionaire, but to him human health was more important.

Stephen Hawking: The most recognizable scientist of today. Both admired for continuing his scientific research despite his medical condition and for his enormous breakthroughs in the field of physics, math, astronomy. He is even a hero in geek fandom. The fact that he was permanently seated in his own hi-tech throne certainly contributes to his iconic status.

Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, was and indeed still is held in saintly regard among planetary scientists; this veneration is largely personal, since he was, by all accounts, a super nice guy.

Sports

Simply every champion or winning team has crowds of worshipping fans. Some will even start hooliganism if their team loses a game or meets rival supporters.

A number of famous football (soccer) players and coaches have achieved near-godlike status in the eyes of their fans, and in the case of the very greatest, in the eyes of all fans. Brazilian striker Pelé is still widely seen as the first and foremost authority in soccer and deemed the greatest striker, if not the greatest player, in history, having won the World Cup three times (1958, 1962, and 1970) before he turned 30. Soccer player Sir Stanley Matthews, described by the BBC's obituary as 'the First Knight of English football', was renowned for his gentlemanly behaviour and discipline, never receiving even a yellow card in all thirty three years of his playing career. The aforementioned Pelé stated that Matthews was "the man who taught us the way football should be played". His training regime was ahead of its time, allowing him a remarkable longevity as a top level professional. Most modern players retire between the ages of 35 and 38, usually dropping down to less challenging leagues in the final years of their careers. The best goalkeepers sometimes extend this to 40. By contrast, when Matthews was 38, he singlehandedly inspired his Blackpool team to come back from 3-1 down in the 1953 FA Cup final against Bolton Wanderers, winning 4-3, in a match that is still widely known as 'the Matthews Final'. He continued playing for over a decade, remaining the only 50 year old ever to play in the top division of English football, and the oldest player ever to play for England, at the age of 42. Soccer player Diego Maradona has a church. No, really. Bill 'Shanks' Shankly, legendary former Liverpool FC manager, famous for taking the club to the summit of the English game, a position it would occupy for the best part of the 70s and 80s, stamped his image on the club and nearly forty years after his death is still nearly worshipped by fans.

While not a creator San Francisco 49ers fans practically worship former owner Eddie Debartolo Jr even chanting his first name during games. Al Davis could count too for Raiders fans, though in later years fans became increasingly frustrated with him.

Within boxing and among black people Muhammad Ali is such a huge internationally famous and respected icon that everyone agrees that he effectively is "the greatest".

"the greatest". Babe Ruth is still the most iconic and revered baseball player of all time, untouched in excellence and admiration and one of American's biggest sport heroes.

Eddy Merckx is still considered unsurpassed as the most succesful cyclist of all time, with a track record that a single individual will probably never be able to match. In his homeland Belgium he is considered to be a national hero, one of the few both Flemish and Walloon people can agree on, especially since he is literally bi-lingual. In Italy, Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali and Marco Pantani are seen in a similar light too.

For motorsport, there are few people that fall in this category: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Mike Hawthorn, Niki Lauda, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Stirling Moss are some of the most prominent examples, especially Senna and Schumacher. The former even got a documentary dedicated to him released in cinemas! Meanwhile, in the world of motorcycle racing, it's pretty much widely agreed upon that Valentino Rossi is the greatest moto racer of all time. In fact, when he lost the 2015 MotoGP title to rival Marc Marquez amidst controversies, many people felt Rossi was snubbed of the title. Kenny Roberts Sr., Giacomo Agostini, Antonio Cairoli, Joey Dunlop and Angel Nieto also enjoy widespread popularity.

Cricket champion Don Bradman is still the best and most succesful batsman the game ever had. A national hero in Australia.

Michael Jordan remains an American hero and the man who popularized basketball internationally.

Tiger Woods is the most succesful golf player of all time at this point, though his heroic status has suffered a bit thanks to his adultery scandal.

Tabletop Games

Look no further than Richard Garfield, PhD. Literally, if his own card is anything to go by. It's not every creator that gets to be depicted as a Biblical saint.

if his own card is anything to go by. It's not every creator that gets to be depicted as a Biblical saint. Gary Gygax for Dungeons & Dragons (at least up until 3rd edition). His recent death has all but granted him full apotheosis. Greg Stolze, another author of Tabletop Games, gets the same treatment nowadays.

In the Exalted community: Michael Goodwin, also known as Nephilpal, has become synonymous with everything good there is about Exalted, and his presence on a controversial project make the fandom happy. While he was an Ink Monkey for a time, he's now gone from the core team. Holden Shearer (also a freelancer) was His Prophet, until he became an assistant to the developer. Then there's the actual creator, Geoffrey C. Grabowski, whose return to the writing team for third edition produced waves of fan joy that knocked the roof off at least one building.



Theater

William Shakespeare. He is considered to be the most genius writer and playwright who ever existed. Not only because his stories are engaging dramas, but also because he wrote characters that actually feel like real human beings. Which is an amazing feat considering this middle aged man wrote both vivid and believable parts for women, people in old age and men from different parts of society. Every actor in the world adds class to his CV by appearing in a Shakespeare adaptation. You can literally spend your entire career playing roles in nothing but Shakespeare plays, because they are so versatile in content, rich in clever language (both monologues and dialogues) and because there are roles for actors in all age brackets that can show off your own progress and veteranship as an actor. Shakespeare is also admired by linguists because he introduced many new words, or sometimes just popularized them, to the English language, a feat that most other writers have never surpassed in that quantitude. For centuries children in the UK have been taught Shakespeare as a mandatory school topic. There was a time in history when "Bardolatry" (as it was called by George Bernard Shaw) was the primary attitude. The modern critic is more likely to regard Shakespeare's collection of plays as just that: a collection of plays, written as entertainment for an Elizabethan audience, rather than "a map of life". Nonetheless, Bardolatry is very much alive. In 100 Greatest Britons (2002) Shakespeare was the only writer/playwright to enter the Top ten.

Molière enjoys the same status as Shakespeare in the French speaking world, though he has the extra bonus of having a talent for comedy.

Henrik Ibsen of Norway was so worshipped in his lifetime that even a Caustic Critic like George Bernard Shaw gushed over him. James Joyce admired his work so much that he learnt Norwegian just tor write his hero fan letters. Arthur Miller also admired him greatly and in Norway and other parts of the world he's seen as the father of modern theatre.

August Strindberg: In Sweden Strindberg is seen as their most talented playwright of all time.

Bertolt Brecht: Perhaps more widely admired outside of Germany than at home. His plays are admired and widely performed by actors and playwrights across the world and his music has been pillaged by every avant-garde songwriter and musician of The '60s.

Luigi Pirandello: Italy's greatest playwright, so revered that he was elected at #7 in "The Greatest Italian" as the only writer to enter the Top 10.

Samuel Beckett: In the second half of the 20th century Beckett is considered to be the most daring and experimental playwright and therefore hugely influential on modern plays.

Stephen Sondheim may be the biggest musical theatre example, to the point where the most recent Broadway tribute to him (for his 80th birthday) actually had a song called "God."

Jonathan Larson, the creator of Rent, mostly because Dead Artists Are Better.

Toys

LEGO comic, magazine and book scribe Greg Farshtey used to be this for BIONICLE, as he wrote over 90% of the series' fiction and remains very open to fans. Post-2010, fans began slamming his writing as unsuitable for the franchise's original "spirit" and gravitated toward franchise co-creator, concept artist and creative manager Christian Faber, until he also began to fall from grace due to his cryptic internet activity, ostensibly aimed to pitch a non-toy Spiritual Successor for the brand. The fandom's love-hate relationship with them even spawned memes. Co-creators Alastair Swinnerton and the elusive Bob Thompson are also well liked, but not as famous as Farshtey and Faber. The only people who have gotten constant praise but little to no actual name recognition are the Templar Studios game developers and animators, who made many of the franchise's fan-favorite early media. Strangely, none of the actual toy designers became worshiped, as they mostly avoided interacting with fans online.

Video Games

Webcomics

For Andrew Hussie this verges on the terrifying . There's been some scattered reports (nothing officially commented on by Andrew) that he and his girlfriend have actually been stalked by fans. His girlfriend has however commented that people have tried to stalk them, but the extent is unknown.

Web Original

Web Animation

Western Animation

Real Life