Category:Gods & Demons

From Glen Cook Wiki

The definition of a god in the Black Company series is somewhat open to debate. Most of the main characters are distinctly skeptical of religion, but there are a number of beings with extraordinary powers who really don't fit any other description. For the most part the terms 'god' and 'demon' are reserved for beings of genuine extraplanar origin, such as Old Father Tree. There is definite evidence of other planes of existence, never well understood by most mortals. Beings such as Old Father Tree, Toadkiller Dog, and the imp Frogface all indisputably hail from other dimensions, though there's no indication what if any relationship exists between their respective home planes of existence.

Notably, it appears that some extraordinary mortals are able to attain a god-like status through a combination of incredible willpower, drive, and power. Both the Dominator and the being imprisoned under Old Father Tree fall into this category. In addition, all beings are depicted as nominally mortal. Even Kina proves vulnerable to attack, and Old Father Tree is supposed to live for a million years- but not forever.

Croaker speculates that it is not only unlikely, but downright illogical for true gods to concern themselves with the affairs of mortals. This seems mostly to be true, but there are times when the affairs of mortals do intersect with those of the gods, and then they can and do take action. Of course, none of the world's religions accurately reflect the true nature of things. In the words of the scholar Santaraksita, "time has forged great symbols from raw materials supplied by ancient events. Prosaic distortions of fact metamorphose into perceived truths of the soul."

For the purposes of this encyclopedia, any being with a clear extraplanar origin is included in the "Gods & Demons" category. Other magical entities considered native to any of the sixteen "normal" worlds are included in "Magical creatures", as are entities from the Plain of Fear which may have once been summoned from another plane but seem to have established themselves in this world as natural beings.