Top 10 Fictional Religions in Video Games

A universe as big and deep as Elder scrolls can’t just settle for a single diety. Many people that live throughout the lands of Tamriel believe in the Daedric Princes, the most powerful of the Daedra entities, and worship them like gods. It can be argued whether the Daedra Lords are good or evil, as they have a twisted sense of morality and exist on a plane completely above humans. The Daedric pantheon is somewhat similar to the Greek and Roman Pantheons, as each Lord represents certain concepts or states of being – such as ambition, discord or madness.

The major political party in the city of Columbia, The Founders try to model their beliefs and ideals off of those of founding fathers of the United States. Though a kind of crazy hyper Christianity, the Founders Worship their leader, Zachary Comstock, like a demi-god – offen referring to him as the prophet. The Founders actually believe the gift Elizabeth will help them tear down the lower world and to rebuild it in Columbia's image.

In a world that’s essentially ended a hundred years ago, it’s natural that some people would seek solace in religion. Found in the first main city of Megaton, these people are led by the twisted Confessor Cromwell. Sound pretty straight forward, right? Well here's a twist, they worship the giant active-but-unexploded atomic bomb in the center of town. Their beliefs are at least thought provoking, as they believe that inside each atomic bomb lies a new universe. This means that they see the great way that ended the civilization as we know it to be a monumentally holy event, one worth celebrating.

Most of these are pretty grim, but you knew there was going to be a straight up doomsday cult on this list. Inhabiting the city of Silent Hill in Maine, The Order is a doomsday cult that believes in an incarnation of God that will destroy the world when she is reborn. The Order justifies its actions as they don't believe in good or evil, only chaos and order. While The Order originated in the Silent Hill series, its ideals are a mishmash of Christianity, Aztec rituals, Native American beliefs, and Japanese folklore.

Resident Evil takes religion head on. The main antagonists in the 4th game, Los Illuminados is a cult that’s sprung up in rural Spain. Members of Los Illuminados are responsible for capturing the U.S. President's daughter so they could infect her with the parasitic Las Plagas. Las Plagas, while seemingly disgusting to you and me, holds spiritual significance to Los Illuminados, who believe it is the key to salvation. As such, in order to fully believe, you have to accept the parasite through mind and body.

Behind every successful religion is a successful leader, and nobody symbolizes this better than the Brotherhood of nod at their enigmatic leader Kane. A militaristic organization that can trace it’s existence back to 1800 B.C., Nod came to prominence in 1995 after the discovery of Tiberium. Members of the brotherhood see Kane as an immortal prophet who will lead Nod to the next stage of human evolution – with Tiberium being the catalyst. Religion and evolution? Doesn't sound right – but they are the bad-guys after all.

Never has a single religion been so powerful in a single world. The main religion of almost everyone in Spira, the religion is named after Yu Yevon, who was a summoner a thousand years prior to the events of the game. The teachings prohibit the use of any form of mechanical technology referred to as “Machina” (Mach-e-nah) as it’s said the their usage could lead to the birth of the giant monster Sin, who has ravaged the world of Spira for centuries. This of course is a false teaching used to keep humanity from gaining the ability to defeat sin, who is Yu Yevon himself has now actually become.

Seen more as a military brigade, most people wouldn't believe there is actually a method to the madness – as the different races that make up the Covenants forces are bound by a unifying belief. They all believe in the Forerunners, a superior race that hasn't existed in thousands of years. They accepted that the Forerunners discovered a way to transcend past the physical world and become divine via the construction of Halos. This does turn out to be a huge misunderstanding as the Halos are actually designed to wipe out all life in order to contain the flood, but that’s where you come in, Chief.

You’d think that aliens and religion would be mutually exclusive, but not in this case. The Unitologists, who are technically primary antagonists of the Dead Space series, are based on the ideas of the first man to discover proof of aliens, Michael Altman. Believers understand that humanity was created by the intelligent design of a superior alien race, the secrets of which are hidden in the sacred artifacts known as Markers. If you want to learn more information about Unitology, you will have to join as the inner workings are members only. Chances of horrible space zombification are unfortunately quite high though.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

The Religion of You
“Black & White” series (2001-06)


Yamatai Followers
“Tomb Raider” (2013)


The Epsilon Program (Kifflon)
“Grand Theft Auto V” (2014)

Ormogoddon
“Brutal Legend” (2009)

The Chantry
“Dragon Age” series (2009-)

The dominant religion in the Dragon Age universe, the Chantry of Andrastians believe in a god named The Maker, who, appropriately created the world and all of life. As the legend goes, the Maker spoke to a mortal woman named Andraste, who spread his teachings, while leading the oppressed people of Ferelden in a war for freedom against the Tevinter Imperium. In the end Andraste was burned at the stake when the Fereldan leaders, including her husband, turned her over to the Tevinter in exchange for a country of their own. For this terrible sin, The Maker turned his back on the moral world, forsaking the people and ignoring their prayers until humanity proves itself worthy, somehow. Maker's breath!

Do you agree with our list? What is your favorite fictional religion? For more philosophical top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to Watchmojo.com.