Is Superman DCU's god?

This is not a debate on religion, but rather a discussion on the topic of DCU's cosmology...

My question...is Superman DCU's god? How did I come to this question/conclusion...

god in the terms of most people means the being the created the universe and as long as we're not including ourselves as the gods of the DCU there is the possibility of their being an in-universe god so to speak.

In infinite crisis Superman uses a Miracle Machine to recreate the DCU using himself as a power source according what I've read from wiki about infinite Crisis. If this is the case then Superman created the DCU and is the Source that is talked about in various titles... this then means that Superman is the DCU's god.

What do you guys think about this?

I think that, in many instances, he may be used to draw parallels to God. The parallels strengths would strengthen and weaken per writer, but they are definitely there.

Then again, In Zero Hour Damage recreated the Universe by triggering a new Big Bang.

I think, in the DCU, it's takes more than just creating a universe to be the God

Symbolically, Supes is closer to JC than God.

Only son sent to a planet to save/help it. Constant sacrifice. Hot reporter babe for a wife...

...Wait, that last part may not be analogous.

Oh, in that case, I don't remember Supes creating the universe in Infinite Crisis. Even if he did, there are other superheros that affect reality in the DCU, I believe, so you can't call Supes the only "creator" god then. And since he doesn't regularly do it, I would just say he was a creator god for that one storyline and that's it.

It depends.

If you define god as 'creator of the universe in question" then I suppose so. However, I haven't read the story in question, but my thought is that when Superman recreated the universe, he would have been able to define things like "Does this universe have a god? y/n" and "Do you wish to assign yourself the status of god in your new universe? y/n"

So for all I know, Jimmy Olsen could be the god of the DCU now.

The Source is a different entity, I beleive, implied to be more powerful than the New Gods, but not necessarily the creator of the DCU (just the creator of the New Gods).

The Spectre works for the DCU's resident Supreme Being I beleive, which implies 'creator of the DCU' but that has never been definitively stated AFAIK.

By the way, where exactly do you stand when creating a universe? In some other universe, presumably?

The Spectre is, arguably, the most powerful being in the DCU. He operates as the literal Wrath of God and performs vengence accordingly (or at least he did before going mad-sickhouse).

Superman is not god. He is a powerful being, but that entire universe is filled with powerful beings. Darkseid could be one, as well as possibly all the things stuck on the Source Wall.

The Spectre isn't the most powerful being. He is always seems to be pwnt by Eclipso, Black Lanterns, and Parallax. The Spectre is nothing more now than a test to make big enemies look uber powerful.

No. They have referenced a supreme being and most often link it to the Abrahamic god; though more openly so in the Vertigo line. The ties between various magical characters in the main DCU and the Vertigo line would implicitly reinforce this concept.

Superman, as already stated, has been given Jesus like attributes and also portrays an ideal for people to strive for. Godhood is not something that mere people would truly strive for in this day and age, therefor Superman cannot be a god figure and maintain the root characteristics of the character. Given that a recent story just had Superman stopping an alien world from worshiping Lex ( or maybe it was him that Lex tried to make them worship. I forget), I would reason that Superman is not meant to be seen as a god by the events in Infinite Crisis. Such a dynamic would irrevocably change the character, and most likely be retconned asap.

You have Infinite Crisis mixed up with Final Crisis. Beyond that, Superman isn't the DCU's god because the DCU has officially recognized the Abrahamic god for a long time now. Go back to Morrison's JLA stuff with that angel dude for reference. He is often depicted using religious imagery, but that's generally more to underscore his importance to the people as a symbol of what's best in humanity rather than as a literal thing.

nope. Superman is DCU's.... wait for it... Superman.

also, the event you're referring to happened during a comic disavowed by DC editorial. any actual enjoyment you may have gotten out of said comic was obviously all in your head and due to the hallucinogenic drugs laced with the comic ink. DC Comics in no way endorses or admits the existence of said comic, and reminds all fans that the big uber awesome event to follow Infinite Crisis was Blackest Night, and NOTHING HAPPENED IN BETWEEN THEM!

That is all... if you know what's good for you.
---Dan Didio.

I don't recall anything about The Source creating the universe. The Source is very powerful and it manipulates things, but it can't directly do much. If I remember right, The Source was behind everything in Infinite Crisis with the whole multiversal thing that went down. But it wasn't powerful enough to just do it (yes, because it was weakened and trying to heal itself, but still).

Besides the established Abrahamic God in DCU (as noted, Spectre and Zauriel, among others, more or less confirm that), the DCU is anthropomorphic. Remember the "hand" at the beginning of creation that Krona saw when he looked back, creating the universe? In the JLA/Avengers crossover (actually considered canon I believe, as events within are directly referenced several times later), it is shown that both DC and Marvel's universes are "beings" of some kind who fall in love with each other and begin to "merge", if you catch my drift. So that's something to consider, too.

P.S., Superman didn't create the universe in Final Crisis. He wished for "a happy ending" and wiped out Darksied's badness.

I know it may be a bit "old school" and have nothing to do with the Infinite Crisis but I still prefer to like way the main DCU superheroes fit the mold of the old Greco/Roman pantheon. I realize the analogies don't fit perfectly but basically you have the following:

Superman = Zeus/Jupiter
Batman = Hades/Pluto
Wonder Woman = Athena/Minerva
Flash = Hermes/Mercury
Aquaman = Poseidon/Neptune
And so on...

From that point of view pretty much the entire Justice League "pantheon" can be considered modern day gods.

Obviously, what I meant was exactly what you said

Maybe you have the dirty mind

All right! Comics books AND theological debate, right up my alley. I would note that while there is a great deal of Christ-symbology in Superman (only son, etc.), the idea that Godhood is achievable by creating a Universe was debated hotly long ago by early Gnostic Christians & Manicheans, amongst others. It was the belief of some (later to be pursued as heretics) that THIS particular Universe, being so obviously flawed and full of woe, was created not by the real actual Big Time God, but by what was called a "Demiurgos", sort of an apprentice Godling who didn't get it quite right. On that level, the question is open to endless debate.

This aside, if the question "is Superman God of DC?" is being asked as a metaphor for "who has the most revered Iconic status at the Company?", it's still open to debate, but Supes is generally who a non-comics fan (an atheist?) thinks of when one mentions DC Comics. Unless the person has just seen a Batman franchise film, that is...

If we are asking the question amongst us True Believers, I think we'd end up with the Holy Trinity--Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. They are three, but indivisible. Supes obviously has the raw power spot as Father, Bats has the Suffering Avatar chops to be the Son, and WW is the Spirit of Sophia. Or at least, some Mystic Christians see The Holy Spirit as feminine, and we can make it fit for the sake of argument.

Really, though, if you want to know who the TRUE God of DCU is, you must fnd out just Who it was that gave The Spectre his powers. He's the only character whose powers were plainly given to him by GOD HIMSELF. He could also crush Superman like a ball of tinfoil (no protection against magic = Spectre gestures, turns Kal into living Kryptonite, Mr. El is killed by his own composition.) Luckily there is no plot so convoluted as to pit the Spectre against Superman. What? You say you have one in your bottom drawer? I should have known...

I would add one last codocil--raw power doesn't equal Godlike Goodness of Spirit. We have seen the lesser-powered Supes stand against the mad Darkseid, and Captain America lift the hammer of Thor, as well as face down Thanos. Purity of spirit trumps power, at least in the comics (and it should be that way in r/l too, but the Demiurgos screwed up...)

Next question: who's God and/or the Holy Trinity at Marvel? Personally, I think it would take the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, with its Ten Spheres in 4 worlds at once, and 22 paths connecting the Spheres, to fully explain comic-book theology.