The Problem With Fictional Religions

Overview

The video analyzes why fantasy stories keep inventing religions—and why those religions often end up looking illogical, exaggerated, or dangerously influential in the plot.

Main through-line / argument

The host (Aaron from Large Ladz) argues that fictional religions are common in fantasy because they’re extremely useful for world-building. They provide:

• history
• factions
• cultural identity
• obvious reasons for conflict

The tradeoff is that many fantasy religions become absurd once you stop and apply logic—especially in worlds where the existence of gods is often provable.

Key examples and highlights

Origins and purpose of fictional religions

The video traces early fake/fictional “religions” to satirical or speculative works, including Thomas More’s Utopia (1516), where multiple faiths coexist with shared values.

It also distinguishes between fantasy religions used for:

• commentary (e.g., Dune)
• background/world-building (where they function more like texture than central doctrine)

Dune: religion as engineered manipulation

The video uses Frank Herbert’s universe to argue that religion can be a powerful tool. It highlights examples of “manufactured religion,” including:

• the Orange Catholic Bible
• Zensunni
• the Bene Gesserit

The implication is not that religion is inherently evil, but that it can be a lever that the wrong people exploit.

The Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit: religion as subtle flavor

Tolkien is presented as an example where religion largely stays in the background:

• characters don’t repeatedly pray
• the creator isn’t even named until appendices
• when higher beings appear, they often do so indirectly (visions, dreams, Gandalf’s return)

The story’s focus remains on mortals’ journeys rather than constant theological messaging.

A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones: religion becomes political machinery

The video argues Martin uses religion actively to generate culture and conflict, citing institutional power such as:

• the Faith of the Seven

It also points to state-level influence (e.g., Aegon’s coronation involving the High Septon).

The show’s extremism is framed through:

• the Faith Militant
• culminating in Cersei destroying the Sept of Baelor

The “absurdity” critique: denial of religions in worlds where gods are real

A major section focuses on a recurring fantasy trope: characters doubt or reject gods even though the storyworld repeatedly proves those gods exist.

• A Song of Ice and Fire: The Faith of the Seven is criticized as a “half-hearted” compromise that many people may not actually believe in, while other faiths (Old Gods, R’hllor, etc.) have more direct evidence.
• The Elder Scrolls: Presented as the worst offender. The host argues that players encounter undeniable divine/daedric power, yet atheists/skeptics still exist (examples include factions like “God-Haters” and scholars who dismiss major gods even when characters can meet them).
  • Dwemer: They’re framed as having pursued reason and logic, treating gods as non-divine—but that belief is presented as hubris that doesn’t logically follow from their own observations.

Religion doesn’t just add flavor—it causes catastrophe

In The Elder Scrolls, the host claims major conflicts and near-apocalypses—Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim—are driven by divine politics and religious stakes.

A highlighted example:

• Skyrim’s Talos ban is framed as a catalyst for civil war
  • the Empire’s compromise becomes an existential “attack” on identity for Skyrim’s people
  • this fuels the conflict between Stormcloaks and Empire/Thalmor

Star Wars: “religion” as the cause of wars

The video frames:

• the Force as a universal sacred system with enough ambiguity to support religious interpretation
• the Jedi as an institution that codifies a specific interpretation—almost like standardized doctrine
• the Sith as a counter-religion: power through emotion and individual strength

It argues the Jedi–Sith conflict repeatedly drives mass suffering and world-ending stakes.

Jokes / tone notes

The narration repeatedly frames fantasy religion as “absurd”, using exaggeration and pointed comparisons, such as:

• followers being like “dumbest people imaginable” who still join clearly dangerous cults
• the way religious doctrine looks nonsensical once divine beings are proven real
• light comedic phrasing around “obvious pratfalls,” especially involving the Chaos Gods

Bottom-line conclusion

Fantasy religions are mostly used to create coherent factions, conflicts, identity, and stakes. But because authors often don’t fully account for realistic belief co-existence—or for how people would react when gods are demonstrably real—these religions tend to become:

• logically inconsistent
• culturally contradictory
• plot-dominating in ways that can feel ridiculous

Personalities appearing

• Aaron (Large Ladz)