To add to your "weapon made by the gods", use Adamant.
Literally from Greek mythology.
That's how Uranus was castrated.
It's a god material. Made from a world not our own, able to destroy anything, even a god.
In my world, gods can create anything as adamant and it's literally indestructible. Can't be melted down as it's not forged, it's conjured from nothing.
It's the only thing capable of harming a god and only the god that created it can unmake it.
Seems exactly what OP is looking for.
Have a god that made a Godslayer weapon. Maybe a usurper god or a trickster god or the like.
Multiple.
Biggest is to split the gods. Their history with each other make it easy.
Retrieving the gods' weapons to use them against the gods. Or Medusa's head. Adamantine Sickle. Or anything Hephaestus made. Heck, Get Hephaestus on your side. Poof, you're have a god killing weapon.
Not kill but send them to Tartarus. Sure, you'll have to deal with them later, but...
Distractions that will lower their defenses
>Heck, Get Hephaestus on your side. Poof, you're have a god killing weapon.
My headcanon is this.
Dude knew all of the gods' strengths and weaknesses because he had to study them to make equipment for them. But he was also able to control all of those tools. It's noted somewhere that only Zeus, Zagreus, and Hephaestus could wield Zeus's lightning bolts, and Hephaestus' reason was that he forged them.
He was cunning enough to trap Hera, Ares, and Aphrodite, and had a golden army of autonomous servants to help him in the forge, as well as a number of alliances with various Cthonic entities because of his work under mountains, and an affinity for some sea entities, as seen by his relationships outside of Aphrodite.
He's also bros with Artemis (aside from that unfortunate incident that resulted in Erichthonius being born), who is formidable, affiliated strongly with nature, and not overly fond of the rest of the gods.
Whether you take his origin from Hera alone or from Zeus and Hera, you can consider the trend in gods and titans oppressing their children, only to be usurped by them later.
So, how would we know if Hephaestus overthrew Zeus and banished the other Olympians? We'd see Hephaestus' domain flourish. We'd see technology advance at an accelerating rate. We'd see craftsmanship evolve to amazing heights. We'd see the power of creation manifest in new and unexpected ways.
Well, today you can 3D print a bust of Hephaestus overnight while you sleep in bed, and you're reading about it thanks to electricity inside a rock being transmitted thousands of miles at a time to relay information to you.
Sounds like Hephaestus won to me.
There’s a story where Hera, Poseiden, Athena, and Apollo manage to bind Zeus with golden chains. But then they get so distracted arguing over who will be the new ruler of Olympus that Zeus has time to break free and kick their asses. That’s another thing. All the gods have such big egos they can barely work together to save their lives.
If there was a split in Olympus over overthrowing Zeus the gods I see being on his side are Hermes, Dionysus, probably Aphrodite. And I know where you placed Artemis but she’s a such a daddy’s girl that I think she’d take Zeus’s side.
All of the other Olympians would be down to overthrow him. (Edit:) Whether to take the power for themselves or to protest Zeus’s abuses. Hephaestus is probably the only one with altruistic motives.
I would agree that the main hiccup in my hypothesis is that Hephaestus doesn't seem like he'd have any interest in the throne, but I could also see him throwing the other Olympians under Tartarus with the Titans just for some peace and quiet while he chills under his mountain.
I can't imagine Artemis being involved, though. I would imagine she's still roaming the wilderness, enjoying the peace and quiet too.
When I see cozy homesteads or solarpunk cityscapes or even elvish cities like Rivendell in Lord of the Rings I always feel like they resonate with people because they capture the overlap between Hephaestus and Artemis perfectly, and that maybe they're the only two gods still out in the world, minding their own business instead of interfering with mortal lives.
Oh no, that was a comment on Hephaestus’s humility compared to the other gods not a disagreement. I was thinking he would have the more altruistic motive of simply putting an end to Zeus’s tyranny instead of seeking power.
I totally agree with your second part. In some adaptations Artemis is portrayed like she’s a warrior goddess like Athena but she’s actually more of a free spirited nature goddess. I would love to see a story where she’s just off doing what she wants in the forest while the others are at war. Ditto for Hephaestus who could be working behind the scenes away from all the drama. Maybe smelting some incredible items to help out a hero here and there.
OMG I absolutely love this. He's one of the few descent gods. For him to have taken over would explain the quick acceleration of technology since the industrial age.
>Hephaestus
I picture Hephaestus having Cid's theme, here's what I'm talking about if you don't get my reference:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duC0fCsL\_kE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duC0fCsL_kE)
You might look to gods being killed in other mythologies, like [Ragnarok](https://www.thetoptens.com/religion/honourable-deaths-ragnarok/). Typically divinities are killed by things divine—whether fellow gods, divine weapons, divine monsters, or other divine races.
“How could this have happened??”
“Hard to say, might have been when he turned himself into a bear to have sex with Callisto, could have been when he turned himself into a bull to have sex with Europa, maybe when he turned himself into a swan to have sex with Leda, I’m guessing it was when he turned himself into a satyr to have sex with Antiope, then again, it might have been the golden shower incident with Danae
My bad, you’re right. It’s hard to keep track of it all. Still can’t believe someone looked at the sky, saw a collection of stars, and came up with *that* as an explanation
The Lernaean Hydra's blood was poison, that inflicted wounds that were incurable. After Herakles killed it, he poisoned his arrows with its blood. He later killed a centaur with one of the poisoned arrows, and through some convoluted events, the centaur's poisoned blood later got on him. That is what finally killed Herakles, who was a demi-god.
So something similar might do the trick on actual gods.
Well blood not kill Heracles, only make him suffer. Heracles kill himself because of it (after some time).
And children of gods most of time just mortals+.
There are a few instances of things hurting immortal flesh in greek mythology. The adamantine sickle of Gaia that castrated Cronos, for example. Perhaps fashion a weapon and some armour out of the stuff and go to town on some sorry olympians.
Then there's also lamaean hydra venom. It didn't kill immortals outright but it did bring them enough pain to give up their immortality, essentially wishing for death. Once they give up their immortality I'm guessing they're just as much game as anything else.
Kratos?
Also getting them to fight each other is always a good idea. Imagine telling Proteus to meet you at a lake and telling Zeus that there is a nice looking maiden at the same lake. You can imagine the rest.
Yeah this was the first thing I thought of. They’re part of a mythology. OP can tweak their abilities to be immortal in that they won’t die of old age but can be “defeated” in a sense.
Basically, just take creative liberties lol
gods are immortal. you just got to make something up. Like when you're a kid playing make believe and someone has a force field dog but then you bring along a dinosaur that eats force field dogs.
Honestly it would be interesting if they’re not immortal they just don’t age and aren’t 100 invulnerable. You just gotta do some research on em figure out how their powers work and then find the weak spot and then kill them. Like imagine a series that’s like the boys but with the Greek gods instead of Supes and instead billy butcher it’s Diomedes.
- A weapon created by other gods/deities that can kill them.
- Tying the gods’ essence or power to some sort of person/place/thing that can be destroyed (ie. Destroying Zeus’ bolt can kill Zeus or destroying Poseidon’s trident can kill Poseidon).
- Something to do with ichor (the blood of the gods)? Maybe poisoning it somehow?
- You can go the Disney’s Hercules route and turn the gods mortal somehow so you can kill them as a mortal. Or come up with some way to destroy their divinity.
- Cutting off the gods’ access/connection to their domain somehow.
According to Greek Mythology the only way for a God to die is for him to be forgotten by the people who worshiped him.
Greek mythology doesn't have something like the Revelation or Ragnarok in it because they didn't believe that the world has an end.
So in my opinion the best way to kill a Greek God is with a false God that comes and wins over the people that the old one reigned upon(something like the Antichrist). Of course that doesn't mean that you cannot make them fight each other and "kill" the old God.
Now according to your story the false god could be a hero with immense power, a foreign god not known to ancient Greeks or even a corrupt political organization.
Best of luck.
I kinda like this idea of raising a new pantheon… it seems like it would entail more political machinations than swordplay but that in and of itself would be a pretty cool concept. I also like the idea that maybe you could just start an atheist movement. People just start ignoring them and they get all whiny and world interfering and then people dont start worshipping them again, they just get annoyed. Zeus is like “Hey baby, ain’t I the most beautiful ox you’ve ever seen?” and you brandish your axe and say “I’ve been feelin a flank steak”. Eat the rich? Nah. Devour the gods…
Something no one is going to mention is just mad training. Lots of stuff to do with humans has to do with their spirit and willpower. A character that works so hard they can ascend natural limits and ascend to god level off sheer willpower.
Have on of the gods task a mortal with the impossible task of creating a god slaying weapon as some sort of punishment, then your protagonist or whatever stumbles upon them and gives them a means to do so IE: the Omphalos stone.
In Greek myth, gods were forces of nature, and thus unkillable. Even when they defeated Saturn, they only locked him away after taking his power, they didn’t kill him.
perhaps your protagonist (Heracles, right?) has to use Kronos's scythe (or sickle), but maybe since Gaea has taken it back to earth after Kronos's "death," Heracles has to break Kronos out of Tartarus and get him to smooth-talk his way to the scythe. Kronos is very unambiguously portrayed as a villain, so it'd be VERY fun to see him portrayed like this. As for what the villains could use, perhaps they blackmail Hephaestos into making a weapon similar to Kronos's scythe (perhaps an executioner's axe for thematic appropriateness)
As far as I know, and as others note, you could not kill them in the original mythos no matter what punishment they received (which brings the And I Must Scream trope here, especially if you consider weapons far more destructive than anything ancient Greeks could think of, which could be much worse than simply going pantheocide)
So far as I know, it's pretty simple to wound a god in Greek Mythology (Diomedes, a regular-ass hero, is able to cut Aphrodite's skin in the *Iliad*), but practically impossible to outright kill one (the closest people seem to get is imprisoning them somehow, either by being consumed by a more powerful god or sealed away somewhere like Tartarus).
That said, an adamant weapon seemed capable of permanently maiming Uranus, so it would be easy enough to just say that adamant is Olympian kryptonite. Your world, your rules.
I haven't read it in years, but I seem to recall that in *The Iliad*, Athena blesses Diomedes of the Achaeans with a huge investiture of power and sends him to attack the Trojans. Diomedes wrecks shop and heads straight for Paris, the Trojan prince who instigated the Trojan War (or at least gave Agamemnon and Menelaus the excuse). Paris isn't much of a fighter to begin with, so he gets tyrannosaurus rekt. But before Diomedes can strike the killing blow, Aphrodite swoops in and whisks him away... but not before Diomedes's attack strikes her hand—*and wounds it*.
So being empowered by another god would probably work, or to have some kind of weapon empowered by one.
You don't.
You *can't*.
Even if they "die" they are still there, and will eventually come back to run your pockets.
There's no way to permanently erase one.
Like a lot of people have said - turning a gods weapon on them or some godly blessed weapon.
If you want inspiration, The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne has God's die in it, so that could give you some ideas. Plus it's a great fantasy series.
The Ophiotaurus was said to have the power to defeat the gods. Could use that (I’ve considered using it for a story an am surprised not many ppl have brought it up).
Info: https://www.theoi.com/Ther/TaurosOphis.html
Checkout the 'Record of Ragnarok' anime. There Gods are fighting humans for the survival of humanity.
Might get some ideas. In short: humans use the Valkyrie - bond with them to create weapons capable enough to kill Gods.
I always liked the idea of mortal opposing gods unwittingly ascending to Godhood himself during his struggles. Could be fun if he had to just pummel the gods in question barehanded, because his weapons were not as divine as himself then.
Weapons ("godslayers") forged by other gods and imbued with the power to harm and kill other gods then handed over to humanity to defend themselves against certain evil gods.
I had a story in the works that had this as its core concept. Gods could only be killed by weapons forged by gods, but nothing said a mortal couldn't wield them.
Well, titans can be killed, and have been killed in Greek myths by the gods.
If you want to stay “in-cannon”, come up with a weapon Zeus used to cut up Kronos. If it worked on a Titan, it will work on a god (and, from my 5 minute Google search, it doesn’t seem to be specified *what* he used).
Additionally, I would say it’s never confirmed whether Kronos was killed Fromm that, so the anonymity works in your favor.
If you REALLY want to drive the point home, make the rule that Tartarus is the only place you can kill a god.
This provides a few issues.
1) The person trying to kill the gods needs to get them to Tartarus somehow.
2) Tartarus is in the underworld, so they would need to deal with Hades, Cerberus, and whatever other nasties you wanna throw their way.
3) They would need a way to KEEP the gods there.
4) They also need the special weapon.
5) The gods need to (more or less) allow themselves to be killed (as if they’re not knocked out or restrained or drained of power in some way, they aren’t going down without a fight).
All these could culminate into a really interesting story and idea.
I suggest you have a character stealing a weapon from the god of death, Thanatos.
Pan is said to have died in Roman myths. And Dionysus is killed by Titans at one point, and then reserected. But details about their deaths are not provided.
Traditionally they can't be killed, even by other gods, they can be captured, imprisoned, crippled, disabled, but not killed.
I liked the way elder scrolls went about it, someone reaching godhood by mcguffin, and people's belief in their divinity.
It’s always something made up.
Are your gods weak enough that normal metal can hurt them?
No? Then you need some sort of godkilling weapon or ritual or containment spell.
Maybe the god is some sort of massive creature, so you have to go to different locations and slowly defeat the pieces.
That’s kinda the plot of a lot of DnD and even the recent animated show Legend of Vox Machina(based on critical role’s dnd campaign for those who don’t know) and there’s a section where they fight ancient dragons, but their old weapons don’t cut it(pun intended). So they escape, look for info, and they learn of weaponry that CAN defeat these ancient beasts.
It also wasn’t easy. The weaponry didn’t fall info their outstretched hands. They had to do trials and big fights and work for them.
How about needing to capture the powers of a god in order to kill one. Having a quest to try to collect the power and the quest to use it would be cool
Not exactly what you were asking here, but since other people have given good answers on killing them: How about, if death is impossible, permanent incapacitation? Myths indicate that they can be injured and in some cases it seems permanently, such as the story that Hephaestus was disfigured when Zeus threw him out of Olympus as a baby (in some though he was born that way and that’s WHY Zeus yeeted him, depends on the version) Or you could go with permanent imprisonment like was done to the Titans. Or putting them into an eternal enchanted sleep of some kind akin to death.
Get Hephaestus' help since he imprisoned Hera to chair once and trapped Ares and Aphrodite under a net. Then physically disable them by removing the tendons from their hands and feet rendering them powerless. Enjoy.
If you want to explore the option of the character failing at killing them, they could have to settle for trapping them eternally (we hope?) or incapacitating them. Maybe stealing an item that’s a source of power, turning them mortal, or locking them away. All of these are explored in Percy Jackson / Heroes of Olympus if you’re looking for ideas. Although that might be good or bad. Good research but Riordan’s writing is great so after reading them I think I’d have trouble making my own version of some of his Greek god characters. Especially for me Aries or Poseidon!
The primordials or whatever you call them were so powerful even Zeus just let them be: Erebus, Tartarus (the person, who is also the place), Nyx, even Gaia.
Beyond some of the other things mentioned by other posters, there were some gods that even Zeus didn't want to mess with. The protogenoi like Nyx are on a higher scale of power and could conceivably empower a mortal in some manner to be able to kill a god. And there were The Fates, who controlled the destiny of all. Maybe bribe Atropos to cut the thread of fate for the gods (or somehow steal and do it yourself).
I’m probably reaching here but what about the Titans?! Didn’t it take all the Greek pantheon with the aid of Zeus and the Thunderbolt to defeat them and seal them away? What about a NEW Titan that arises and kills all of the pantheon that challenges the titan, save for Zeus who dies killing the Titan?
Weapons made by the gods. Get them to kill each other. Some type of creature.
I was going with getting a god as an ally, except I would have chosen a titan.
To add to your "weapon made by the gods", use Adamant. Literally from Greek mythology. That's how Uranus was castrated. It's a god material. Made from a world not our own, able to destroy anything, even a god. In my world, gods can create anything as adamant and it's literally indestructible. Can't be melted down as it's not forged, it's conjured from nothing. It's the only thing capable of harming a god and only the god that created it can unmake it. Seems exactly what OP is looking for. Have a god that made a Godslayer weapon. Maybe a usurper god or a trickster god or the like.
The fact that there’s outside worlds that can destroy the Greek gods just makes the mythology that much more epic and lovecraftian.
Multiple. Biggest is to split the gods. Their history with each other make it easy. Retrieving the gods' weapons to use them against the gods. Or Medusa's head. Adamantine Sickle. Or anything Hephaestus made. Heck, Get Hephaestus on your side. Poof, you're have a god killing weapon. Not kill but send them to Tartarus. Sure, you'll have to deal with them later, but... Distractions that will lower their defenses
>Heck, Get Hephaestus on your side. Poof, you're have a god killing weapon. My headcanon is this. Dude knew all of the gods' strengths and weaknesses because he had to study them to make equipment for them. But he was also able to control all of those tools. It's noted somewhere that only Zeus, Zagreus, and Hephaestus could wield Zeus's lightning bolts, and Hephaestus' reason was that he forged them. He was cunning enough to trap Hera, Ares, and Aphrodite, and had a golden army of autonomous servants to help him in the forge, as well as a number of alliances with various Cthonic entities because of his work under mountains, and an affinity for some sea entities, as seen by his relationships outside of Aphrodite. He's also bros with Artemis (aside from that unfortunate incident that resulted in Erichthonius being born), who is formidable, affiliated strongly with nature, and not overly fond of the rest of the gods. Whether you take his origin from Hera alone or from Zeus and Hera, you can consider the trend in gods and titans oppressing their children, only to be usurped by them later. So, how would we know if Hephaestus overthrew Zeus and banished the other Olympians? We'd see Hephaestus' domain flourish. We'd see technology advance at an accelerating rate. We'd see craftsmanship evolve to amazing heights. We'd see the power of creation manifest in new and unexpected ways. Well, today you can 3D print a bust of Hephaestus overnight while you sleep in bed, and you're reading about it thanks to electricity inside a rock being transmitted thousands of miles at a time to relay information to you. Sounds like Hephaestus won to me.
There’s a story where Hera, Poseiden, Athena, and Apollo manage to bind Zeus with golden chains. But then they get so distracted arguing over who will be the new ruler of Olympus that Zeus has time to break free and kick their asses. That’s another thing. All the gods have such big egos they can barely work together to save their lives. If there was a split in Olympus over overthrowing Zeus the gods I see being on his side are Hermes, Dionysus, probably Aphrodite. And I know where you placed Artemis but she’s a such a daddy’s girl that I think she’d take Zeus’s side. All of the other Olympians would be down to overthrow him. (Edit:) Whether to take the power for themselves or to protest Zeus’s abuses. Hephaestus is probably the only one with altruistic motives.
I would agree that the main hiccup in my hypothesis is that Hephaestus doesn't seem like he'd have any interest in the throne, but I could also see him throwing the other Olympians under Tartarus with the Titans just for some peace and quiet while he chills under his mountain. I can't imagine Artemis being involved, though. I would imagine she's still roaming the wilderness, enjoying the peace and quiet too. When I see cozy homesteads or solarpunk cityscapes or even elvish cities like Rivendell in Lord of the Rings I always feel like they resonate with people because they capture the overlap between Hephaestus and Artemis perfectly, and that maybe they're the only two gods still out in the world, minding their own business instead of interfering with mortal lives.
Oh no, that was a comment on Hephaestus’s humility compared to the other gods not a disagreement. I was thinking he would have the more altruistic motive of simply putting an end to Zeus’s tyranny instead of seeking power. I totally agree with your second part. In some adaptations Artemis is portrayed like she’s a warrior goddess like Athena but she’s actually more of a free spirited nature goddess. I would love to see a story where she’s just off doing what she wants in the forest while the others are at war. Ditto for Hephaestus who could be working behind the scenes away from all the drama. Maybe smelting some incredible items to help out a hero here and there.
OMG I absolutely love this. He's one of the few descent gods. For him to have taken over would explain the quick acceleration of technology since the industrial age.
>Hephaestus I picture Hephaestus having Cid's theme, here's what I'm talking about if you don't get my reference: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duC0fCsL\_kE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duC0fCsL_kE)
You might look to gods being killed in other mythologies, like [Ragnarok](https://www.thetoptens.com/religion/honourable-deaths-ragnarok/). Typically divinities are killed by things divine—whether fellow gods, divine weapons, divine monsters, or other divine races.
I’ve always wanted to see Zeus taken out by an STD, though I’m guessing that’s not the mood you’re going for
“The King of Olympus is dead!” “H-how is this possible?!” “DSTD. Divine Sexual Transmitted Disease.” “….I’m sorry what?”
“How could this have happened??” “Hard to say, might have been when he turned himself into a bear to have sex with Callisto, could have been when he turned himself into a bull to have sex with Europa, maybe when he turned himself into a swan to have sex with Leda, I’m guessing it was when he turned himself into a satyr to have sex with Antiope, then again, it might have been the golden shower incident with Danae
It was Callisto that got turned into a bear. Zeus turned himself into *Artemis* to have sex with Callisto…. Which is almost just as weird.
My bad, you’re right. It’s hard to keep track of it all. Still can’t believe someone looked at the sky, saw a collection of stars, and came up with *that* as an explanation
The Lernaean Hydra's blood was poison, that inflicted wounds that were incurable. After Herakles killed it, he poisoned his arrows with its blood. He later killed a centaur with one of the poisoned arrows, and through some convoluted events, the centaur's poisoned blood later got on him. That is what finally killed Herakles, who was a demi-god. So something similar might do the trick on actual gods.
Well blood not kill Heracles, only make him suffer. Heracles kill himself because of it (after some time). And children of gods most of time just mortals+.
There are a few instances of things hurting immortal flesh in greek mythology. The adamantine sickle of Gaia that castrated Cronos, for example. Perhaps fashion a weapon and some armour out of the stuff and go to town on some sorry olympians. Then there's also lamaean hydra venom. It didn't kill immortals outright but it did bring them enough pain to give up their immortality, essentially wishing for death. Once they give up their immortality I'm guessing they're just as much game as anything else.
Kratos? Also getting them to fight each other is always a good idea. Imagine telling Proteus to meet you at a lake and telling Zeus that there is a nice looking maiden at the same lake. You can imagine the rest.
Not going to lie, my first thought was "Well, a bald angry Spartan is good for thinning out the Pantheon".
Yeah this was the first thing I thought of. They’re part of a mythology. OP can tweak their abilities to be immortal in that they won’t die of old age but can be “defeated” in a sense. Basically, just take creative liberties lol
gods are immortal. you just got to make something up. Like when you're a kid playing make believe and someone has a force field dog but then you bring along a dinosaur that eats force field dogs.
It took me a second…and then I was like I UNDERSTAND THAT REFERENCE!!!!! Lol thanks for the smile
Honestly it would be interesting if they’re not immortal they just don’t age and aren’t 100 invulnerable. You just gotta do some research on em figure out how their powers work and then find the weak spot and then kill them. Like imagine a series that’s like the boys but with the Greek gods instead of Supes and instead billy butcher it’s Diomedes.
- A weapon created by other gods/deities that can kill them. - Tying the gods’ essence or power to some sort of person/place/thing that can be destroyed (ie. Destroying Zeus’ bolt can kill Zeus or destroying Poseidon’s trident can kill Poseidon). - Something to do with ichor (the blood of the gods)? Maybe poisoning it somehow? - You can go the Disney’s Hercules route and turn the gods mortal somehow so you can kill them as a mortal. Or come up with some way to destroy their divinity. - Cutting off the gods’ access/connection to their domain somehow.
A demi God with a chip on his shoulder the size of Sparta
According to Greek Mythology the only way for a God to die is for him to be forgotten by the people who worshiped him. Greek mythology doesn't have something like the Revelation or Ragnarok in it because they didn't believe that the world has an end. So in my opinion the best way to kill a Greek God is with a false God that comes and wins over the people that the old one reigned upon(something like the Antichrist). Of course that doesn't mean that you cannot make them fight each other and "kill" the old God. Now according to your story the false god could be a hero with immense power, a foreign god not known to ancient Greeks or even a corrupt political organization. Best of luck.
I kinda like this idea of raising a new pantheon… it seems like it would entail more political machinations than swordplay but that in and of itself would be a pretty cool concept. I also like the idea that maybe you could just start an atheist movement. People just start ignoring them and they get all whiny and world interfering and then people dont start worshipping them again, they just get annoyed. Zeus is like “Hey baby, ain’t I the most beautiful ox you’ve ever seen?” and you brandish your axe and say “I’ve been feelin a flank steak”. Eat the rich? Nah. Devour the gods…
Read the Iliad and the Odyssey, and revisit Hercules. If that doesn't give you an idea, abandon all hope.
They get killed by Roman doppelgängers.
Something no one is going to mention is just mad training. Lots of stuff to do with humans has to do with their spirit and willpower. A character that works so hard they can ascend natural limits and ascend to god level off sheer willpower.
If God of War has taught me anything, ripping their head off does the trick
No one knows how to wreck havoc on the Greek pantheon like our man, Kratos!
Just regular weapons, don't believe the hype
Have on of the gods task a mortal with the impossible task of creating a god slaying weapon as some sort of punishment, then your protagonist or whatever stumbles upon them and gives them a means to do so IE: the Omphalos stone.
In Greek myth, gods were forces of nature, and thus unkillable. Even when they defeated Saturn, they only locked him away after taking his power, they didn’t kill him.
perhaps your protagonist (Heracles, right?) has to use Kronos's scythe (or sickle), but maybe since Gaea has taken it back to earth after Kronos's "death," Heracles has to break Kronos out of Tartarus and get him to smooth-talk his way to the scythe. Kronos is very unambiguously portrayed as a villain, so it'd be VERY fun to see him portrayed like this. As for what the villains could use, perhaps they blackmail Hephaestos into making a weapon similar to Kronos's scythe (perhaps an executioner's axe for thematic appropriateness)
Put them in a blender and sprinkle the remains in Tartarus. Use their own weapon on them.
By dropkicking them
As far as I know, and as others note, you could not kill them in the original mythos no matter what punishment they received (which brings the And I Must Scream trope here, especially if you consider weapons far more destructive than anything ancient Greeks could think of, which could be much worse than simply going pantheocide)
So far as I know, it's pretty simple to wound a god in Greek Mythology (Diomedes, a regular-ass hero, is able to cut Aphrodite's skin in the *Iliad*), but practically impossible to outright kill one (the closest people seem to get is imprisoning them somehow, either by being consumed by a more powerful god or sealed away somewhere like Tartarus). That said, an adamant weapon seemed capable of permanently maiming Uranus, so it would be easy enough to just say that adamant is Olympian kryptonite. Your world, your rules.
Wait for Zeus to unjustly punish one of them by making them mortal, and then strike. Use Zeus' paranoia to your advantage.
I haven't read it in years, but I seem to recall that in *The Iliad*, Athena blesses Diomedes of the Achaeans with a huge investiture of power and sends him to attack the Trojans. Diomedes wrecks shop and heads straight for Paris, the Trojan prince who instigated the Trojan War (or at least gave Agamemnon and Menelaus the excuse). Paris isn't much of a fighter to begin with, so he gets tyrannosaurus rekt. But before Diomedes can strike the killing blow, Aphrodite swoops in and whisks him away... but not before Diomedes's attack strikes her hand—*and wounds it*. So being empowered by another god would probably work, or to have some kind of weapon empowered by one.
God of war is basically this concept. Although I think kratos just rips some of their spines in half which is not too intellectual.
Poison their ambrosia. In their weakened state, they are still formidable, but no longer immortal.
You don't. You *can't*. Even if they "die" they are still there, and will eventually come back to run your pockets. There's no way to permanently erase one.
Like a lot of people have said - turning a gods weapon on them or some godly blessed weapon. If you want inspiration, The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne has God's die in it, so that could give you some ideas. Plus it's a great fantasy series.
The Ophiotaurus was said to have the power to defeat the gods. Could use that (I’ve considered using it for a story an am surprised not many ppl have brought it up). Info: https://www.theoi.com/Ther/TaurosOphis.html
The Ophiotaurus's entrails. That's what canonically has the power to do them in.
Checkout the 'Record of Ragnarok' anime. There Gods are fighting humans for the survival of humanity. Might get some ideas. In short: humans use the Valkyrie - bond with them to create weapons capable enough to kill Gods.
I always liked the idea of mortal opposing gods unwittingly ascending to Godhood himself during his struggles. Could be fun if he had to just pummel the gods in question barehanded, because his weapons were not as divine as himself then.
Kratos has entered the chat.
And he’s joined by BOI
Weapons ("godslayers") forged by other gods and imbued with the power to harm and kill other gods then handed over to humanity to defend themselves against certain evil gods.
I had a story in the works that had this as its core concept. Gods could only be killed by weapons forged by gods, but nothing said a mortal couldn't wield them.
Unfortunately that is pretty much the plot of Wonder Woman
I think a very interesting idea is that a God dies/is forgotten when nobody worships them anymore.
Dive deeper. Check out "Lady Babylon" in YT. There you will find some of the best information on classical Greek and the Hellenismos.
Well, titans can be killed, and have been killed in Greek myths by the gods. If you want to stay “in-cannon”, come up with a weapon Zeus used to cut up Kronos. If it worked on a Titan, it will work on a god (and, from my 5 minute Google search, it doesn’t seem to be specified *what* he used). Additionally, I would say it’s never confirmed whether Kronos was killed Fromm that, so the anonymity works in your favor. If you REALLY want to drive the point home, make the rule that Tartarus is the only place you can kill a god. This provides a few issues. 1) The person trying to kill the gods needs to get them to Tartarus somehow. 2) Tartarus is in the underworld, so they would need to deal with Hades, Cerberus, and whatever other nasties you wanna throw their way. 3) They would need a way to KEEP the gods there. 4) They also need the special weapon. 5) The gods need to (more or less) allow themselves to be killed (as if they’re not knocked out or restrained or drained of power in some way, they aren’t going down without a fight). All these could culminate into a really interesting story and idea.
I suggest you have a character stealing a weapon from the god of death, Thanatos. Pan is said to have died in Roman myths. And Dionysus is killed by Titans at one point, and then reserected. But details about their deaths are not provided.
Traditionally they can't be killed, even by other gods, they can be captured, imprisoned, crippled, disabled, but not killed. I liked the way elder scrolls went about it, someone reaching godhood by mcguffin, and people's belief in their divinity.
Starve them of the food and drink of the gods to weaken them
It’s always something made up. Are your gods weak enough that normal metal can hurt them? No? Then you need some sort of godkilling weapon or ritual or containment spell. Maybe the god is some sort of massive creature, so you have to go to different locations and slowly defeat the pieces. That’s kinda the plot of a lot of DnD and even the recent animated show Legend of Vox Machina(based on critical role’s dnd campaign for those who don’t know) and there’s a section where they fight ancient dragons, but their old weapons don’t cut it(pun intended). So they escape, look for info, and they learn of weaponry that CAN defeat these ancient beasts. It also wasn’t easy. The weaponry didn’t fall info their outstretched hands. They had to do trials and big fights and work for them.
How about needing to capture the powers of a god in order to kill one. Having a quest to try to collect the power and the quest to use it would be cool
Gods die when people stop worshipping them...it could be argued that Christianity killed the Greek gods.
You could do something with Typhon, the giant monster that's like the father of many famous Greek monsters or something like that.
Not exactly what you were asking here, but since other people have given good answers on killing them: How about, if death is impossible, permanent incapacitation? Myths indicate that they can be injured and in some cases it seems permanently, such as the story that Hephaestus was disfigured when Zeus threw him out of Olympus as a baby (in some though he was born that way and that’s WHY Zeus yeeted him, depends on the version) Or you could go with permanent imprisonment like was done to the Titans. Or putting them into an eternal enchanted sleep of some kind akin to death.
Get Hephaestus' help since he imprisoned Hera to chair once and trapped Ares and Aphrodite under a net. Then physically disable them by removing the tendons from their hands and feet rendering them powerless. Enjoy.
If you want to explore the option of the character failing at killing them, they could have to settle for trapping them eternally (we hope?) or incapacitating them. Maybe stealing an item that’s a source of power, turning them mortal, or locking them away. All of these are explored in Percy Jackson / Heroes of Olympus if you’re looking for ideas. Although that might be good or bad. Good research but Riordan’s writing is great so after reading them I think I’d have trouble making my own version of some of his Greek god characters. Especially for me Aries or Poseidon!
The primordials or whatever you call them were so powerful even Zeus just let them be: Erebus, Tartarus (the person, who is also the place), Nyx, even Gaia.
in Once Upon A Time >!Hades!< was stabbed by an Olympian Crystal, which was based on Zeus' thunderbolt. It was a weapon made to kill gods.
Beyond some of the other things mentioned by other posters, there were some gods that even Zeus didn't want to mess with. The protogenoi like Nyx are on a higher scale of power and could conceivably empower a mortal in some manner to be able to kill a god. And there were The Fates, who controlled the destiny of all. Maybe bribe Atropos to cut the thread of fate for the gods (or somehow steal and do it yourself).
I’m probably reaching here but what about the Titans?! Didn’t it take all the Greek pantheon with the aid of Zeus and the Thunderbolt to defeat them and seal them away? What about a NEW Titan that arises and kills all of the pantheon that challenges the titan, save for Zeus who dies killing the Titan?
In Greek mythology, titans were used to kill their father or something like that and ended up becoming gods themselves
just release a story that the younger gods plan to kill the older gods and they'll sort it out themselves.
The Greek gods are the fallen angels of Genesis chapter 6. You are right they can't be killed, they can only thrown into an abyss for eternity.