This paper examines the intertextual relationship between the “End of the Age of Gods” narrative in the mobile game Fate/Grand Order (FGO) and the historical memory of the Catholic “conquest of paganism”. It argues that FGO’s depiction of the transition from a polytheistic “Age of Gods”, characterized by direct divine intervention and mystery, to a human-dominated “Human Order” governed by reason and science, resonates deeply with the historical Catholic narrative framing the triumph of monotheism over pagan religions. Through comparative analysis, the study explores how both discourses construct a binary of decline and ascendancy: FGO portrays the inevitable waning of divine authority enabling human agency, mirroring the Catholic historical memory that positions the suppression of polytheism as a necessary step towards establishing a singular divine order and human civilization. The paper analyzes shared thematic elements (divine decline, human ascendancy, transition), narrative structures (linear progression, teleology), and symbolic representations within both FGO’s fictional universe and Catholic historical discourse. It concludes that this intertextuality reveals how contemporary media like FGO unconsciously engages with and reconfigures deep-seated historical and theological narratives concerning the shift from polytheism to monotheism/humanism, highlighting enduring cultural anxieties and ideological frameworks surrounding religion, power, and historical progress.
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Liu, Z., Luo, X. (2026) Survivals of Polytheism and the Monotheistic Order: Intertextuality between the “End of the Age of Gods” Narrative in the Game Fate/Grand Order and the Historical Memory of the Catholic “Conquest of Paganism”. Journal of Social Development and History, 2(2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.71052/jsdh/MQCZ8212