Gods

**Gods** are divine supernatural beings separated from mortal mankind because of magic. They are known and worshiped throughout multiple cultures.

## Creation

The existence of gods date back to at least 3000 BC, though how they came into creation is unknown.

Aurora's notes on various mythologies, particularly Roman mythology, indicates that Vulcan is one of the six primordial deities who emerged at the dawn of creation, along with the Sol or the Sun. While recounting her findings to Lizzie, she also states that they have a singular father, and he is immensely powerful. Her notes allude to that being Jupiter. Considering Ben's claim that the myths that persist today are a gross oversimplification as well as the names are all wrong, this remains unknown.

## History

Collectively, the history of the gods is unknown. While examining the enchanted sarcophagus, Professor Vardemus concludes that there's blood scrawled in multiple languages speaking of the gods, but the gods of a dozen, or maybe more, different cultures.

Circa 3000 B.C., a village at the base of the Caucasus Mountains worshiped a group of gods that lived high atop one of the mountains, guarded behind a threshold that mortal men could not pass. One of the gods loved a mortal women that bore a child with divine blood. Ben, attempting to save his lover, stole the fire that the world would come to know as magic. Having failed to save Ashur, he gave the magic to his village, though they turned on him and in their lust for that power, monsters were born, along with many of the world's ills.

Sometime after the 11th Century, Carson came to his daughter, Jen, seeking her favor. With the creation of Malivore, a creature that could make the world forget someone ever existed, Carson became afraid as he was the ultimate death sentence for a god since they are only as powerful as people's belief in them. Jen created sarcophaguses so that he and his family could sleep until Malivore's destruction. With the exception of Jen, they have slept ever since.

## Powers and Abilities

The full extent of the gods powers and abilities is unknown. Furthermore, it is unknown if the abilities extend collectively to all gods, across different cultures, or their offsprings, or if they vary from one individual to the next. Additionally, both Jed and Aurora have referred to Ben as a "Nephilim," though no separation, if any, has been made.

* **Divine Blood:** Gods possess divine blood, meaning magic cannot hold them. Specifically in regards to Ben, he was able to cross the threshold where the gods of his village lived as well as pass through Cleo's barrier spell unobstructed. Similarly, Hope was unable to use a locator spell to track Jen after she had stolen the sarcophagus. Jen also explains to Aurora and Lizzie that the forgetting spell when beings are absorbed into Malivore doesn't work on the gods.
	+ **God Magic**: Given their godhood, they possess what a number of people call, including the gods themselves, god magic. Ambiguous as it is, such potent magic renders a witch's witchcraft useless. Furthermore, it is forged into Jen's smithing and metalwork, making such objects seemingly indestructible by mortal or supernatural means. Specifically with Ken, he can also cast, control, and remove curses. However, his curses ended with his death.
* **Invincibility:** Gods possess a durability unlike any other and far exceeding supernatural beings. For example, Ben fought to keep his village safe and, given his birthright, was invincible in battle.
* **Super Strength:** Gods possess a strength unlike any other and far exceeding supernatural beings. For example, Ben was able to lift a set of barbell weights, approximately 100 lbs or so, with a single finger, whereas Jen was able to lift and throw the enchanted sarcophagus that Professor Vardemus mused was over 500 lbs. The throw also seemingly destroyed the sarcophagus, whereas it was unaffected by Hope’s magic.
* **Flight:** Gods possess the ability to defy the laws of gravity and propel themselves through the air unaided in extreme momentum. During her brief confrontation with Hope and Lizzie, Jen flew away to avoid fighting.
* **Longevity or Immortality:** Gods perhaps have extended lifespans or a form of immortality. This is not explicitly known with various statements. Jen implies that her history is a "long story". Ben is cursed to heal and be attacked by monsters, though has lived for around 5,000 years. Collectively, Ben also tells Cleo that the gods have been sleeping for a long time. Lynn herself was cursed for all eternity to ferry the souls to Peace and had done this for over 10,000 years.
* **Temporal Manipulation:** Lizzie implies that the gods have "all kinds of powers", including the ability to wield and shape time. She assumes they could take her and Aurora back to certain points in time to change certain events. Though the validity of this claim is unknown, Jen claims that Chronos is the god of Time.
* **Lightning Manipulation:** During their probability simulation of fighting the gods, Ben describes that Ken can pierce the sky with lightning and can call it down to strike his enemies. He can also use lightning as a means of transportation, as he rode the lightning to arrive at the Salvatore School and left with himself and Jen. During both of battles against Hope, Ken created lightning in the palm of his hand and struck Hope with it.
* **Belief:** Jen explains that gods are only as powerful as people's belief in them, which had diminished over the years.

## Weaknesses

* **Witchcraft:** Gods are assumed to be susceptible to some powers of witchcraft, albeit indirectly. This is specifically referencing mystical objects, as well as siphoning. Ben was given an enchanted bangle that muted the frequency of his divine blood, which prevented monsters from locating and attacking him. Jen, Ben, and Ken have also all been siphoned by Lizzie at varying degrees of susceptibility.
* **Vulnerability:** Despite their claims of invincibility, it seems that gods can be harmed. Specifically, and likely due to his curse, Ben can experience levels of trauma and excruciating pain that would be fatal to others, albeit he will fully heal and recover from apparent death. Jen was also momentarily harmed by Lizzie's siphoning ability; though she seemed otherwise unaffected, she decided to not to continue her confrontation with Hope and Lizzie. Moreover, Ben explained that only a god can kill another god. Similarly, god magic can kill a god, particularly when forged into a weapon.
	+ **God Magic**: Despite their godhood, god magic and specifically Ken, can cast, control, and remove curses. For example, he cursed his sister, Lynn, unable to return to their home, cursed Ben as well as altered his curse to make him mortal. He could also control the werewolf curse which was created through witchcraft to trigger all of the Salvatore werewolves' curses to activate and transform without a full moon. Ben also eluded to that Ken could remove Jed's curse entirely.
	+ **White Fire and Brimstone:** A mixture that the Spartans used to harm the gods, otherwise known in modern times as phosphorous and sulfur. When super-heated, it can be rigged to cause an immense explosion.
	+ **God Spear:** Smithed by Jen, it is a divine weapon forged with god magic and Red Oak ash in Ken's quest to kill the tribrid, Hope Mikealson. It renders witchcraft useless and can be used to kill other gods as it was forged with god magic.
* **Belief:** Gods run on belief and are only as powerful as people's belief in them, which has diminished over the years. This is both a great power and a diminishing weakness. With the birth of Malivore, a creature that could make the world forget that someone ever existed, Ken experienced fear. Jen described this as the ultimate death sentence for a god.
* **Malivore:** Jen intended to let Ben be consumed by Malivore as a means to hide the key that trapped her family. She also believed this would stop the curse that Ken placed on him. Ken explained to Aurora that he tried to protect his family from Malivore, at least the ones he hadn't already consumed. This implies that Malivore can also consume gods, though this is not elaborated upon and would contradict Ben's statement that magic cannot hold him as Malivore was a dimension created through witchcraft.