Could we see a real sexy shoeless God Of War

[Nail]

After 1 part OOTS archive binge and 1 part D'n'D Wikiwalk I'm wondering; Could Belkar become a God Of War (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/God_Of_War_(3.5e_Prestige_Class))?
I know Belkar is currently Chaotic Evil but with the good influence of Mr. Scruffy (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0781.html) and the part real part fake character development (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0606.html) and the fact that he'll be taking his last breath ever this year (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0572.html) (death is a class requirement).

Becoming a true SEXY SHOELESS GOD OF WAR (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0610.html)could serve as a loop hole in Belkars fate. What do you think?

[Tiiba]

Sure, in a fanfic. That's a homebrew class.

[Nail]

Oh! I had no idea. Nevermind

[Tiiba]

Of course, so is Dashing Swordsman. Nothing is REALLY off limits.

[Keltest]

Im going to give a definite "maybe."

I don't know about that particular homebrew, but there is a variety of ways that Belkar can leave this mortal plane without explicitly dying.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I've seen this theory proposed before, and I don't really think it's likely. The last thing Belkar deserves is to become a god. With regards to that specific homebrew (being a homebrew makes its use unlikely, at best) I don't think Belkar fulfills the requirement, especially not Patron Gawd: Odin.

[lolthfollower]

Belkar as a god of war? *shudder* If that ever does happen, everyone had better hope he boosted his wisdom score

[Jay R]

This feels like yet another clever way that Rich could subvert the intentions of the author. He wrote the prophecy; I don't think he's looking for a loophole to avoid it.

It's certainly possible, and might have been planed from the start, I suppose.

But I hope not. I'd hate for Belkar's wonderful swanky battle boast to be reduced from flamboyant hyperbole to mere foreshadowing.

[Kish]

Dashing Swordsman was made up by someone who knows how to spell "God."

(And also incidentally happens to write the webcomic. But mainly, the thing where he didn't talk about the Dashing Swordsman having a Patron Gawd.)

[Bulldog Psion]

I hope not. He certainly doesn't seem overwhelming enough to be god material. I like the little wretch well enough, if like is the right word, but he's clearly a second-rate fighter with tepid combat skills whose main claim to fame is slaughtering mooks.

[137beth]

I doubt it. We know of at least two mortals in the OOTSverse who ascended to godhood, but we only know of the process for one. The Dark One already had a significant following during his lifetime. Belkar...doesn't.
I'm just going to ignore the fact that "God of War" in the OP was a link.

[thereaper]

To ascend to godhood generally requires worship. I can think of no one who worships Belkar.

[TurtlesAWD]

I've seen this theory proposed before, and I don't really think it's likely. The last thing Belkar deserves is to become a god.

I think this raises an interesting question of who "deserves" to become a god, assuming a setting in which apotheosis can occur. We know that motivation and personality aren't particularly important for godhood - there are plenty of evil gods, they don't all act the same. I think the most important aspects of deciding who deserves to be a god would be:

1) Exceptional behavior/deeds - What sets the person in question above others? What makes them legendary enough among mortals to deserve to ascend to godhood? For a mythological figure like Heracles this was equal parts his birth/lineage, his legendary exploits, and even his death which made him truly legendary and led to apotheosis. Heracles was not the only son of Zeus, nor was he the only fantastic archer, nor the only Greek hero to overcome incredible trials and obstacles. It was a mix of these factors. Dionysus is similar in a few regards as well (son of Zeus, exceptional deeds), and he brings me to my second point.

2) Redundancy - Typically with a pantheon of gods you'll have domains or spheres of influence. Fantasy settings make use of this in their worldbuilding and it's based on actual pantheons that have been worshipped. Poseidon is god of the ocean, Ares is god of war, Dionysus is god of wine and ecstasy. Generally these spheres of influence don't overlap much, and when you have two warlike gods, like Ares and Athena they will usually represent different aspects such as Ares being the more violent, untamed war while Athena is associated with military strategy, wisdom, and courage. This makes sense, if the gods are supposed to be powerful in their domain, that power is undercut if they must share it. Likewise, it's harder to get worshippers to worship two gods for the same thing and there's not really incentive for them to do so, so what has happened in real ancient religions is that gods will end up either being supplanted or merged. Ra was merged with various other deities at different times for the egyptians, sun and moon goddesses for the greeks and romans often ended up associated with each other (Apollo and Helios, Artemis and Selene), and all kinds of Hindu deities get supplanted with one another as best I understand it.

What this means is that for a younger/newer god like Dionysus, they must generally be the god of an aspect that no other god covers, and they must do it well enough for no other god to simply take it into their own sphere of influence. Or, an older god needs to be falling out of favor so that religious powers can shift.

3) Right place, right time - This applies more to stories given that apotheosis in fiction is often done in a more dramatic manner than "So-and-so was born from the chief god of our pantheon, then he kicked a lot of ass, and now we're welcoming him to the club." The Forgotten Realms setting certainly has had an amount of apotheosis for heroic mortals in the past and although birth can play into it because some gods have had mortal children, it seems like it's just as often because the universe (or a spooky wizard) has conspired to bring about a situation in which the status quo can be changed and gods can fall or rise. For evil characters it's usually out of ambition or desire for power while for good characters it's more because someone has to take that sphere of influence as a god, and if they don't an evil character might. They may not best represent whatever sphere or dominion they are becoming the god of (another mortal somewhere else in the world could possibly do it better), but through circumstances it's still required of them at that time.

So the takeaway for Belkar is... is he exceptional? It's tough to make a final ruling with the story still in progress, but he's probably only about as exceptional as the rest of the party, at least in terms of combat prowess and deeds. He's certainly funny, but his own belief that he's the only funny thing left in the comic is an exaggeration (for humorous purposes!). Would he be redundant? Certainly, if the pantheons remain as they are. Gods of war and martial prowess are common and popular. Could he beat one in a fight to take its place? Not a chance. I doubt he could beat Roy... I'm not convinced he could beat Windstriker. Finally, could he end up in the right place at the right time with the story conspiring to lead him to godhood? Personally, I don't think we can rule this entirely out. My reasoning is mainly because we don't know everything we need to about the snarl or the world within the rift to make that call definitively, as well as the fact that the snarl can kill gods. That said I think it's pretty unlikely to see Belkar become an actual god because the gods who were killed by the snarl have not been replaced with a new pantheon of ascended mortals... and it's often not a great plot device in terms of character development. Still interesting to think about though.

Edit: Apparently the Dark One was mortal at one point, which I was not aware of! It's interesting that apotheosis has happened in the story (or the background for the story) already... but I don't actually think it makes it any more likely that Belkar could do the same.

[multilis]

No, sorry this is impossible, Belkar as god would have a somewhat improved wisdom and in his case that turns him against war. Proof: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0058.html You can see in recent comics how Belkar has become a little smarter and a little less violent already.

However it would be possible for Belkar to become a god of peace, sexiness, shoelessness, or cooking.

[TurtlesAWD]

No, sorry this is impossible, Belkar as god would have a somewhat improved intelligence and in his case that turns him against war. Proof: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0058.html You can see in recent comics how Belkar has become a little smarter and a little less violent already.

However it would be possible for Belkar to become a god of peace, love, vampire slaying or cooking.

If he's been increasing his wisdom, at most I think it's given him a better sense of the tactical application of violence, rather than a reduced appreciation for it. In the last book alone he didn't care at all about the slavers until they threatened his cat, he wanted to kill the least popular NPC for more rewards and he was a total jerk while in Tarquin's arena. Not to mention his dinosaur related rampage. Belkar has grown as a character (or pretended to very, very well) but I wouldn't call him less violent.

[ChowGuy]

If he's been increasing his wisdom, at most I think it's given him a better sense of the tactical application of violence, rather than a reduced appreciation for it.
Which is good enough reason why he'd never be a god of war. A sexy shoeless god of pointless violence maybe, but wars are generally waged for a purpose, even if the purpose is only the enrichment of your clan. Belkar just kills stuff cause he gets a kick out of it.

[Mith]

So Belkar could become the God of Rampage? The other War-like gods in the Pantheons thus far seem to be more tactical than straight up brute force, so Belkar would be unique in that regard.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

So Belkar could become the God of Rampage? The other War-like gods in the Pantheons thus far seem to be more tactical than straight up brute force, so Belkar would be unique in that regard.

I don't think Belkar is really all that awesome at rampaging, other than killing lots of low-level mooks. Roy could have done better than him, probably.

[Nail]

So Belkar could become the God of Rampage? The other War-like gods in the Pantheons thus far seem to be more tactical than straight up brute force, so Belkar would be unique in that regard.

I smell a homebrew coming.

[Synar]

This homebrew says that a lawfull character loses the favor of Odin, and need to change alignement and perform a quest given by Odin to gain back Odin's favors and his class features.
But would Odin (either the "real" one or the one from OOtS) really be chaotic? He seems pretty lawful to me, with the devotion, attraction to knowledge and wisdom, patience, endurance, and rigor, so even if bersekers could rightfully seen as rather chaotic in most cases, I don't buy a lawful character would lose Odin's favors.

[Keltest]

This homebrew says that a lawfull character loses the favor of Odin, and need to change alignement and perform a quest given by Odin to gain back Odin's favors and his class features.
But would Odin (either the "real" one or the one from OOtS) really be chaotic? He seems pretty lawful to me, with the devotion, attraction to knowledge and wisdom, patience, endurance, and rigor, so even if bersekers could rightfully seen as rather chaotic in most cases, I don't buy a lawful character would lose Odin's favors.

They might not lose his favor, just his respect as a wild berserker demigod of carnage.

[137beth]

[Somewhat off topic]I still don't buy the idea that barbarians can't be lawful. Partly because the name 'barbarian' conjures the image of an ancient tribe of hunter-gatherers living in their ancestral homeland, and the mighty warriors who defend the tribe against invading conquerors. In a single word, the barbarian represents tradition, and nothing is more Lawful than that.
Also, Beowulf is sometimes cited as an archetype for the barbarian, and he was pretty clearly lawful in myth. [/Somewhat off topic].

To litterally answer the question posed in the topic (but not the OP:smalltongue:), we have already seen a Sexy Shoeless God of War....but only if you assume that boots are not shoes! Sexyness is entirely subjective, so every character is potentially sexy. Thus, any Shoeless God of War satisfies the criteria posed in the topic.
Under the assumption that boots do not count as shoes, a Sexy Shoeless God of War can be seen in panel two: Ares. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0273.html) Ares is wearing boots, not shoes, there is probably at least one person in the world who finds him sexy (if OOTS is following the source myths, which it probably isn't, then Aphrodite finds him sexy), and is actually a god of war.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

You can also see Ares lying dead here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0274.html). Looks like things went well for him.