The Gods

The universe of the Fear & Hunger series has a rich lore and mythology consisting of multiple gods and godlike beings that reigned across a rich history for millennia. Mentions of these greater beings are plentiful in both games, many of them directly or indirectly involved in the events that occur.

Old gods
The world of Fear & Hunger does not have one unified religion. Instead, there are several extremely powerful deities known as the "old gods", who are separately worshipped by different factions in the game's world. They are seen as the true gods of the world and represent the most basic concepts present in it. Information about them can be gathered from specific books regarding their nature found in the various libraries and bookcases present in the two games currently released. While not all of them have been revealed so far, ten different runic symbols have been portrayed so far, which could be an indication of their numbers.

Available lore in both games seem to indicate that some of these older deities have 'departed' from the world, but their traces are very strong remaining energies who are somehow still sentient and influent. It is also stated that older gods never truly perish.

Gro-goroth
Gro-goroth, the destroyer of man, is the god of destruction and human sacrifice. He wishes for blood to be spilt in his name. If one cannot resist the call of his darkness, he will grant this one a terrible power, yet strong for the sin this one has committed. Gro-goroth is a curious god, more so than many of the other older gods. To relieve the feeling of fear, he wears the bodies and skins of men and women alike. Some believe he still walks among men, masked under the skin of people and hanging bodies, but his presence is fading. His runic symbol resembles two cutting rings.

Sylvian
Sylvian, the goddess of love and fertility, created men and women at the dawn of time. She wishes only for an act of love in her name, granting you a bond more serious than you could imagine. Both Sylvian and Gro-goroth originate from the green hue, the plane of the older gods. Many believe she left mankind behind a long time ago. Her first runic symbol has the shape of an opened eye; her second one is an open slit, resembling a vagina.

God of the Depths
The God of the Depths, an old and gigantic being worshipped by outcasts left in the darkness - insects and wretched soulless beings. Her body lies dormant in the altar of darkness and within it, there is The gauntlet, a way to the very bottom of the dungeons. She was killed and her body used as a vessel to give birth the God of Fear and Hunger. Her runic symbol is that of a backwards R.

Rher
Rher, the Trickster Moon God, also known as the Moon god and Trickster God, is one of the last old gods to still observe mankind. He is a jealous kind and would not share the godhood and the world order with humans and the new gods, because he doesn't believe men should have the same rights as true gods. He has many ploys to diminish the influence of the new gods, but his motivations seem incomprehensible to them. Lady of Moon and Pocketcat are his servants, both bent on killing children as a way to get rid of humanity's potential ascension. He is the main orchestrator of the events in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. During these events, he has a new servant, Per'kele, who acts as his voice and observer. His runic symbol is three circles, two above one.

Vinushka
Vinushka, the god of nature, is an offspring of Gro-goroth and Sylvian. It is said his appearance can change according to the region of the world that he decides to appear, just like nature itself, and that his temper is as volatile as the manifestations of his domains. Vinushka was introduced in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. His symbol is a swirling maelstrom, that signifies ever-changing state within nature.

Alll-mer
Alll-mer, the ascended one and the last of the older gods, was born in Jettaiah, raised by a virgin mother and supposedly sired by a "False God". He gathered his 12 apostles to bring down the old world order, and usher in a new one (His new world order is called the old world order by the New Gods). Corrupt kings and sultans captured Alll-mer and hung him from the cross, where he ascended into the city of the Gods, Ma'habre. He returned back to his weeping 11 apostles and tried to save mankind with his strength by murdering the kings and sultans, bringing back the old world order. Year 0 marks the birth of his new self, and the start of a new calendar. They say his mortal remains still lie in the ancient tomb, hidden somewhere near the ancient city of Ma'habre. By the time the events of Fear & Hunger 2: Termina take place, it appears his cult has greatly surpassed others in popularity. His runic symbol is a cross, the object he dies on.

The God of Fear and Hunger
Also known as the Ancient One, a pure creature with a soul that radiates the light of an older god. Along with Alll-mer, she is the only old god born from a human and is considered his equal. The soul has formed itself by copulation of Nilvan (a new god) and Le'Garde (a visionary half-god). of and hatched inside the body of a little girl, after growing up knowing nothing but misery and suffering, and then being taken to the bottom of the dungeons of fear & hunger. She has part of the God of the depths in her, as killing all three hearts murdered him, only an old god never truly dies, and thus parts of him were used to form her. She represents the everpresent darkness and that it can be used to create something new and improve humanity but powering through it. Her symbol is the God of the Depths' runic symbol but two and mirrored, RЯ, but is also representative of her first misshapen form.

Sulfur God
The Sulfur God is an obscure entity referenced extremely vaguely in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. From the few tidbits we find about him, we know he is an old and obscure deity. He seems to have been concieved during the ascension of Alll-mer - while Alll-mer carved his idol to ascend into godhood, his subconcious, hatred-filled parts were cast deep into the sulfur pits. His symbol is a triangle inside another triangle, with an inverted cross beneath them, showing him to be Alll-mer's antithesis.

The fellowship and the rise of the new gods
After the older gods left mankind, the kingdoms of the world were slowly rotting away and the grand values mankind once aimed for were displaced by defiled principles and practices. Without the guidance of the older gods and in times of great peril, a fellowship of five people was formed: Francóis, the dominating one, Nilvan, the endless one, Valteil, the enlightened one, Chambara, the tormented one, and then there was Nosramus, the "fifth one", the forgotten one, who never aspired for the same greatness as the rest of the party, whose story bears no listeners.

This fellowship was formed in the year 809 to seek the older gods. Back then, there existed an ancient tomb to the ancient city of Ma'habre that worked as a hub for multiple different planes of existence: a place where a man could meet his maker. It is here, that the fellowship would demand the rights of self-governing for mankind.

Eventually all 5 of them would reach the golden gates of Ma'habre, the very same gates Alll-mer ascended to 809 years prior that would lead them to their confrontation with the older gods. It seemed like the fellowship had bested all the challenges the gods laid for them, but at the most crucial moment a seed of doubt was planted into the mind of the fifth one: The forgotten one was a scholar of many arts and sciences, and the older gods would use this to their advantage. They revealed the greater scheme of things and the way they directed the flow of mankind. Many people had gone before the same trials as the fellowship. Yet nothing had changed for the better for mankind as aeons went by. The fifth one supposedly understood this and thus refused his ascension.

This created a rift between the fellowship and because of it, only the 4 other members proceeded with the initial mission. The remaining fellowship tore down the legacy of the old gods and created a new world order. An age where mankind decides its own fate by choosing its own gods. In the end the fellowship became the new gods and the forgotten one was never seen or heard from again, he simply disappeared. But some notes from him remain, about the black liquid and the creation of new life, almost 300 years after the tale of the fellowship.

The fellowship would also gradually lose its influence over commonfolk, to the point where the tales of the fellowship are currently classified as a simple legend.

The other new gods and the greater scheme of things
It is revealed in the events of Fear & Hunger that there are many more new gods out there, sitting idle in the grand hall of the gods and ruling Ma'habre, after the departure of the old gods. Once the reign of a new god has seen its end, the god resides in the grand hall to let the new ones reign for their time. But these new gods disapproved of Francóis' reign and even Francóis concluded that he was nothing more than just a puppet and everything was pointless. It took him numerous life cycles to understand the greater scheme of things: Time is a cycle.

Nas'hrah
Besides the 4 new gods, there is also Nas'hrah, the great wizard of the Eastern Sanctuaries, who acquired immense knowledge of the older gods and still lingers somewhere in the blood pit. He preceded Valteil as the master of the grand libraries, but eventually came to the conclusion that becoming a new god would not change anything. It would just start a new cycle that would reach the very same conclusion. Like Valteil, he began experimenting with artificial life and created an underground laboratory for this purpose. He successfully created empty husks, who don't seem to be capable of doing anything constructive. Something changed at some point, and he developed a deep hatred of the 4 new gods. He truly despises them and desires nothing more than to destroy the reign of the new gods. He isn't even afraid of the older gods.

Betel
Nas'hrah was preceded by Betel, a new god of enlightenment, who created the grand libraries to store the immense knowledge the world holds. Bethel wished that the archives would one day surpass the knowledge and the wisdom of the older gods. Every new god of enlightenment would from then on dedicate their cycle at the libraries to a certain subject they would decide themselves.

The Heartless One
The Heartless One is a new god portrayed in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. From the scarce information currently available on her, she seems to deeply despise her divine peers. She was apparently locked away in Prehevil's Church of Alll-mer in an alternate dimension prior to the events of the game.

The Radiating One
The Radiating One is a new god portrayed in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. Little information is currently available on this particular deity.

The Tainted One
The Tainted One is a new god portrayed in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. From the scarce information currently available on her, she is one of the new gods that sits in the Grand Hall of the Gods.

Other religious figures
Below are three entities which have not been officially stated as older or new gods, but hold some degree of notoriety in religious lore that can be found in the series.

The Mourning One
The Mourning One is depicted in statues as a figure in shrouds with hoods and long sleeves, concealing the bodies but for the hands and face. The images have the area within the hood as a blank, black space. The Mourning One's statues are frequently spotted in the Church of Alll-mer within Prehevil, a city where The Mourning One might be considered a saint - so far one of the only figures to be called so in the series. Although The Mourning One's name follows a similar pattern to the way New Gods are usually named, no available information lists this being as such a deity.

Vitruvia
Vitruvia, the architect of the human body. She is mentioned in one of Alll-mer's origin stories - a deity that created a reprography of mankind under Sylvian's orders, that would be the likeness of Sylvian herself. Over time, Vitruvia started to see imperfections at her designs, motivating her to create the perfect human being: Alll-mer. There is a custom of sacrificing harvested organs to her in hopes of curing corresponding ailments, based on a law where every action has equal reaction.

Yggaegetsu
Yggaegetsu is an old warrior deity worshipped in the far reaches of the Eastern Sanctuaries. Yggaegetsu seems to become more significant during times of peace, when warriors are left without purpose and travel the world in search for this deity, to challenge it to a duel, seeking purpose to an otherwise meaningless existence.