“"In a world where every day is a struggle for survival, you need all the gods you can get."
- – Londo Mollari
The dominant Centauri belief system revolves around a Pantheon of fifty or so household Deities that they believe govern every aspect of their day-to-day lives. Some of their gods include former Emperors who have since been deified while some are less accepted than others.
The Pantheon[]
- Great Maker: Creator of all things. Originally an alien deity, it has nonetheless been adopted by the Centauri. Though the Great Maker is worshipped on many worlds, the Centauri are unique as the only non-monotheistic religion to have adopted the deity. Indeed all other Maker religions are strictly monotheistic and promise eternal damnation for those that keep alien gods.[1]
- Ilarus: Goddess of luck and patron of gamblers.[2][3]
- Li: Goddess of passion. A synthesis of male and female Centauri.[4][5]
- Mo-Goth: God of the underworld and protector of front doors.[4]
- Tuscano: The first Emperor of the Republic. According to the old books, the first Emperors were proclaimed deities by the ancient gods.[6]
- Venzen: God of food. Venzen was the 17th Emperor of the Republic and was elevated to godhood for declaring that joy and excessive consumption was the duty and responsibility of every Centauri patriot. When Venzen died, he weighed more than any three Emperors combined. Such was his mass that he accidentally crushed his first wife during the act of procreation and was therefore rendered involuntarily celibate by his other wives.[3][4][7]
- Gon: Another former Emperor. His temple on Immolan V is widely recognized as the most beautiful building ever constructed by a sentient race, and draws millions of pilgrims and tourists each year.[3]
- Zoog: A controversial choice of god, originally just a household god associated with one noble family that made a habit of imposing their god on others where possible. Zoog was eventually included into the official pantheon when that family used its power to force the Centauri religious establishment to recognise the temple they'd built for their God, an act of pure vanity on their part. Some Centauri don't count him at all, believing he should never have been recognised.[8][9]
- Ruterian: Unknown, but mentioned in By Any Means Necessary when G'Kar stole Londo Mollari's idol.
A representation of Li
A representation of Venzen
Behind the Scenes[]
- Mo-Goth is a reference to wikipedia:Morgoth from works of J.R.R. Tolkien, of which J. Michael Straczynski is a big fan.