Most action RPGs love including a good power struggle, but some like to take it to the extreme by letting players go toe-to-toe with literal gods.
Whether it’s out of revenge, well-placed rebellion, or just another Tuesday for a particularly overpowered protagonist, these games let players test their metal against unbelievably strong divine beings.
Whether they’re corrupt mythological deities or cosmic horrors masquerading as gods, these all-powerful foes all must meet their end at some point. Some of these battles feel like deeply personal, hard-fought battles, while others are merely a means to an end, and a few are just so over-the-top that they border on absurdity.
Regardless of the reasoning, if you’ve ever wanted to punch a deity in the face, rip apart an eldritch nightmare, or prove that mortal willpower can overcome divine authority, these games let you do just that.
9Cult of the Lamb
Beat A God, Become A God
Cult of the Lamb
In Cult of the Lamb, you don’t just have the option to kill a god—you get to rip him from his throne and replace him entirely.
This roguelike-meets-management-sim puts you in the role of a sacrificial lamb resurrected by a mysterious entity known asThe One Who Waits. The One Who Waits, also known as the God of Death, has been imprisoned by his brothers and sisters, punished for becoming too powerful and letting his hubris run wild.
Imbued with the otherworldly powers of the Red Crown, bestowed onto you by The One Who Waits, your job is to build a cult in death’s name and take down those who imprisoned him.
The deal was that once you were finished with your task, you’d give back your powers and let yourself be sacrificed, but who would agree to that?
Along the way, you realize that becoming a god sounds way more fun than getting sacrificed to The One Who Waits. So, once you defeat The One Who Wait’s siblings and build your glorious cult, you have a choice to make: allow the death god to consume you, or challenge him and take his place. The choice is a fairly easy one to make.
Takes One To Know One
SMITE 2 doesn’t just let you kill one god; it lets you killseveral, all at the same time.
This sequel to the original MOBA pits deities from various mythologies against each other in an all-out battle for supremacy. Whether you’re hurling lighting bolts as Zeus or unleashing the divine powers of the underworld as Anubis, every match is a high-stakes god-fight where only the strongest can survive.
Unlike traditional god-slaying RPG adventures,SMITE 2doesn’t follow a copy/paste, “lone hero’s journey against a supreme being” narrative.
Instead, you’re just a fellow god killing everything they sees, which is pretty refreshing in a gaming world filled with tear-jerking narratives and unnecessary backstories.
Another refreshing aspect of SMITE 2 is that it enforces the idea that gods and deities can be just as flawed, overly ambitious, and occasionally ruthless as mortals, if not even more so.
With every battle, players take up the mantle of a god, proving that even the most legendary figures can both be toppled and do the toppling. After all, when a war is waged, even a godly one, someone has to lose… and that someone is about to meet their end at your hands, divine being or not.
7Persona 5 Royal
Kill the Divine Being, “Holy Grail”
Persona 5 Royal
In Persona 5 Royal, toppling corrupt leaders is all in a day’s work for the Phantom Thieves, but their greatest heist yet involves taking down a literal god.
You’ll embark on many heists and take down tons of corrupt powerhouses along the way, but at the end of the game, you’ll be faced with a divine being known as the “Holy Grail”, an all-powerful entity with godlike powers and status.
This entity feeds off of humanity’s apathy and twisted desires, corrupting humanity even further as a result. This so-called divine being seeks to become the sole ruler of existence, but letting that happen would just be admitting defeat for the Phantom Thieves.
The battle escalates when the Holy Grail is “defeated,” and another being entirely emerges from where it fell; it turns out that the Holy Grail is actually just the head of the being, and its true form is known as Yaldabaoth, the God of Control.
Armed with little else butan unbreakable will and foolish optimism, you get to take him on in a fight for humanity’s freedom. The battle won’t be easy, but the price for freeing all of humanity is rarely cheap.
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6Skyrim: The Elder Scrolls V
Kill an Ancient “World Eater” Dragon God
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Any game that lets you kill dragons is cool enough already, but a game that lets you killdragon gods? It doesn’t get much cooler than that.
In Skyrim, being the Dragonborn means more than just shouting enemies off cliffs (surprising, I know); it also means fulfilling an ancient prophecy toslay a godlike being, Alduin.
Alduin may look like your run-of-the-mill flying reptile monstrosity, but this “World-Eater” isn’t just your average dragon.
He’s the firstborn of Akatosh and a self-proclaimed god of destruction, destined to bring about the end of the world. As the prophesied hero of the story, you’re the only one who can stop him, wielding the power of the Dragonborn to challenge a being that even the gods themselves fear.
The road to Alduin won’t be easy, but it will equip you with the skills and shouts you’ll need if you ever want to take down the World Eater. In the end, you won’t just be killing a corrupt and evil god; you’ll be rewriting fate itself.
5Asura’s Wrath
Take on a God as a Lowly Demigod
Asura’s Wrath
If there’s any game that fully embodies the “rage against the heavens” trope, it’sAsura’s Wrath.
This action-packed, all-gas-no-brakes, anime-style spectacle follows Asura, a demigod betrayed by his fellow demigods. Fueled by pure, unrelenting fury, he embarks on a path of destruction to take revenge on those who betrayed him, and he won’t stop until every last one of them is crushed beneath his fists.
Asura was once a demigod who was set up and accused of murder by his former allies. After framing him, killing him, and banishing him to Naraka, they went on to even kidnap his daughter, Mithra.
His wife and her sister were also killed in the process, so you can imagine the amount of anger coursing through him when he was resurrected by a mysterious being known as The Golden Spider, and brought back from Naraka.
Asura’s rage-filled journey leads him straight back to those who betrayed him, in an all-out bloodbath that even the gods couldn’t have accounted for. He goes on to take every single one of them down, including their corrupt leader, Deus. But even that’s not enough.
In the game’s true ending, Asura defies fate itself and decides to take on Chakravartin, the omnipotent being who created both the world and the universe itself.
With enough raw determination and unbridled rage to shatter the cosmos entirely, Asura does the unthinkable: he kills the corrupt creator of existence itself, proving that no god is beyond his wrath.
4Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Kill a Corrupt and Angry God
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13
The Final Fantasy series is known for its god-status antagonists, but no game embodies this trope better than Final Fantasy XIII, the thirteenth game in the main series.
The battle against divine forces in this game isn’t just about survival; it’s about entirely rejecting a future written by the gods themselves and stopping at nothing to ensure it never comes to fruition.
As the concluding chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII saga, Lightning Returns follows the series heroine’s final battle against an all-powerful god, one who’s dead set on ending the world and creating a new one to cater to his own desires. The game starts off with her waking from a long, self-imposed hibernation toa world that is set to end in just 13 days.
Revived by the god Bhunivelze, Lightning is chosen as the “Savior”, tasked with rescuing as many souls as possible before the world ends and a new one is created.
She must complete various tasks and embark on numerous otherworldly journeys to guide these unfortunate souls to the afterlife, all while contending with old allies and foes alike.
Throughout her journey, however, she manages to uncover Bhunivelze’s true evil nature and wicked intentions and decides to fight like hell to defy him in order to free humanity from his control.
Obviously, this is a lot easier said than done, but the friendships and allies that she’s made along the way are all the support she needs to take down an all-powerful god of corruption.
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3Elden Ring
Become the Ultimate God Slayer
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is a somewhat unique title on this list, as it allows you to kill several gods and demigods in whatever order you choose.
Most of the bosses in this game are difficult enough to feel like you’re taking down a god, but that honor is actually reserved for the final bosses in the game, Marika and the Elden Beast.
After carving your way through the corrupted demigods of the Lands Between, the final battle pits you against Radagon of the Golden Order—Marika’s other half. Winning this battle literally feels likebusting open the gates of heaven and beating God in an arm-wrestling match, but unfortunately, you’ve still got even bigger enemies ahead of you.
Though the previous battle was nothing to scoff at, the real test of god-slaying strength comes immediately after, when the Elden Beast, a divine cosmic entity, emerges as the ultimate source of power, and he’s definitely pissed off at you for disrupting the order of things.
If you want to claim the throne for yourself, you must defy fate itself, slay a literal god, and reshape the world in your image. Whether you choose to bring about order, chaos, or something else entirely, Elden Ring lets you decide just what kind of all-powerful god you want to become.
2Mortal Kombat X
Take Down the Elder Gods
Mortal Kombat X
Most of the Mortal Kombat games end with the defeat of an ultimate, god-like being, but the best example of this has to be in Mortal Kombat X.
In Mortal Kombat X, the stakes are higher than ever as Earthrealm’s warriors face off once again against an ancient deity with a serious power complex.
Shinnok, a fallen Elder God, seeks to plunge the world into darkness (because, of course, he would), corrupting everything in his path, including the once-noble Thunder God, Raiden.
As the game’s story unfolds, it becomes clear that the only thing that can stop Shinnok’s reign of terror is a good old-fashionedMortal Kombat beat-down. In the game’s final, climactic battle, you must choose your fighter and step up to challenge the fallen god.
Defeating him is probably one of the most difficult boss fights in Mortal Kombat history, but the satisfaction of seeing his stupid face finally get KO-ed makes it all worth it.
And while Shinnok may technically be immortal, Raiden ensures that he’ll never rise again, severing his head and sending a clear message: the gods of old are no longer untouchable.
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1God of War Ragnarök
Kill Gods, Raise Your Kid
God of War Ragnarok
God of War Ragnarök lets you experience the joys of parenthood and god-slaying at the same time, a unique combination that somehow really works in the game’s favor.
The stakes could literally not be any higher in God of War Ragnarök, as Kratos and his son, Atreus, embark on an epic journey to prevent the end of the world.
Fimbulwinter,a season of extreme coldthat is said to precede the end of the world, is in full force, and the looming threat of Ragnarök forces both father and son to journey across the Nine Realms in search of answers.
Along the way, they face the wrath of numerous Norse gods, and while defeating them is no easy task, it becomes apparent that every milestone you cross only brings bigger, stronger, and more ruthless foes to your doorstep.
As the prophecy of Ragnarök nears, Kratos must challenge both his own and his son’s safety to confront the very gods who threaten to destroy all he holds dear. In the final battle, Kratos faces Odin, a god who has spent years manipulating the lives of others for the sake of his own corrupt desires.
In the end, Kratos finally delivers the fatal blow to Odin, toppling the Allfather and ending his reign of fear for good. With the death of Odin and the fall of Asgard, Kratos can finally raise his son in a world without the reign of corrupt gods constantly looming over their heads.
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