Mythology & Religion Power Ranking TOP100
I wrote a book ranking the most powerful gods, monsters, and heroes from world mythologies, religions, and legends in order of strength! Of course, the rankings reflect a fair amount of my personal opinion, but the reasoning behind each placement is grounded in the actual lore and episodes from each mythology, so I think it makes for a fairly convincing read.
In this series, Iβd like to introduce some of the characters featured in the bookβs ranking. There are plenty of other characters beyond the ones covered here, so I think anyone interested in mythology, religion, or legends will find it an enjoyable read!
Rank 21: Apep (Egyptian Mythology)
Overview
Apep is a massive serpentine monster that embodies chaos and destruction in Egyptian mythology. Often called βApophis,β Apep is said to attack the solar barque of the sun god Ra every night as he traverses the sky.
Apep wields a powerful force of darkness and chaos, capable of plunging the entire world into shadow. If Apep were to achieve a complete victory over Ra, it was believed the world would sink into eternal darkness and perish.
Every night, Apep battles Ra and the gods who guard his barque β led by Set β in a conflict that symbolizes the eternal struggle between darkness and light (the sun and the night) in Egyptian mythology.
Even if Apep is defeated, it revives when the next night comes. Ra cannot permanently destroy it, yet it is precisely through this daily battle that the cycle of day and night continues.
Ranking Reason
While detailed descriptions of Apepβs power are scarce, the fact that even Ra β the most powerful being in Egyptian mythology β cannot permanently destroy it speaks to its extraordinary level of immortality.
More accurately, Apep seems to be a being for whom βcomplete death does not exist,β and assuming a prolonged battle, it appears capable of outlasting and ultimately destroying any opponent.
On the other hand, it is frequently repelled by Set, which suggests that its raw combat power is not especially high in absolute terms. However, there is a lore account saying that the mere sight of Apep caused the bodies of other gods to freeze in fear, which implies that Set is simply exceptionally powerful β and that most other gods would struggle to fight Apep at all.
All of this suggests that Apep is a being with the power to easily destroy the world, and I placed it at this position in the ranking accordingly.
